A staff intervention targeting resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM) in long-term care increased staff...

Elder abuse in long-term care has received considerable attention; however, resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM) has not been well researched. Preliminary findings from studies of R-REM suggest that it is sufficiently widespread to merit concern, and is likely to have serious detrimental outcomes for residents. However, no evidence-based training, intervention and implementation strategies exist that address this issue.

The objective was to evaluate the impact of a newly developed R-REM training intervention for nursing staff on knowledge, recognition and reporting of R-REM.

The design was a prospective cluster randomized trial with randomization at the unit level.

A sample of 1405 residents (685 in the control and 720 in the intervention group) from 47 New York City nursing home units (23 experimental and 24 control) in 5 nursing homes was assessed. Data were collected at three waves: baseline, 6 and 12 months. Staff on the experimental units received the training and implementation protocols, while those on the comparison units did not. Evaluation of outcomes was conducted on an intent-to-treat basis using mixed (random and fixed effects) models for continuous knowledge variables and Poisson regressions for longitudinal count data measuring recognition and reporting.

There was a significant increase in knowledge post-training, controlling for pre-training levels for the intervention group (p<0.001), significantly increased recognition of R-REM (p<0.001), and longitudinal reporting in the intervention as contrasted with the control group (p=0.0058).

A longitudinal evaluation demonstrated that the training intervention was effective in enhancing knowledge, recognition and reporting of R-REM. It is recommended that this training program be implemented in long-term care facilities.