Abuse surges among elderly care residents

A CBC investigation has found that reports of residents abusing one another havesurged in Manitoba care homes and hospitals.

According tothe results of a provincial investigationtabled by Manitoba's Ombudsman,there were 657 reports of assaultsbetween care home residents in 2005.

In2010, that number had nearly doubled to 1,217.

Many of the reports are violent incidents, such asattacks with canes, a resident being pushed into a fireplace, even sexual assaults. And in most of the cases, there has beenserious harm.

In June 2009, one resident pushed another to the ground but what stands out is the reportfrom aninvestigator with the provincial Protection of Persons in Care Office (PPCO).

It stated the abuser had already been written up for abuse 18 other times. It further states the abuser is "likely to pose a serious risk to other residents, especially as the reports identify a trend towards an escalation in aggression."

Bernadette Preun, an assistant deputy ministerat Manitoba Health, couldn't explain why something wasn't done sooner about that abusive resident.

"In this particular case, there was really good follow up on each of those particular pieces whether there needed to be a change in the care plan," she said.

In anothercase,the abuser was involved in eight other incidents involvingother residents.

And in yet another case,PPCO reportstated a resident was involved in "three consecutive incidents of physical abuse towards this and other residents.

"Each incident had the potential to cause serious bodily harm to the victim."

And those cases are only the ones we're hearing about. The provincial ombudsmanhas said PPCO's threshold for what constitutes abuse is too high making it "possible to have abusive actions, even criminal conduct that will not be considered abuse by the PPCO."

So there may be many other cases that don't meet the PPCO definition. But there are always reviews and those types of incidents could be included one day.

"I think that we always want to strive to improve what we're doing.The protection for persons in care office, we do need to continue to improve what we do," said Preun.

Death at care home

Theincidents of abuse came to a head this week whenan 87-year-old man died.

Frank Alexander was shoved in a confrontation with an Alzheimer's patient at Parkview Place personal care home on Edmonton Street in Winnipeg.

Hefell backwards and struck his head on the floor in the incident, which happened on March 24.

Alexanderdied late Monday night after spending the weekend in hospital in critical condition.

Joe McLeod, 70, had beencharged with aggravated assault but since Alexander's death, police have beenconsulting with the Crown to see if the charge might be upgraded to manslaughter.

The Alexander family has also said they want a detailed inquiry into their father's death to effect change on the provincial elder care system and increase safety for residents.

McLeod's family has said he has a history of aggressive behaviour.

He was jailed last fall for allegedly assaulting his wife, Rose, which led to him being admitted to the care home.

Michael Alexander said McLeod should have been in a more secure facility.

"He should not have been there," he said during a press conference on Thursday.