People with dementia abused by caregivers: study

Half of people caring for family members with dementia report some abusive behaviour, such as swearing or shouting, toward the patient, according to a new study.

"Many people think about elder abuse in terms of 'lashing out' and other similar acts," said the study's lead author, Dr. Claudia Cooper of University College London's department of mental health sciences. 

'Our findings suggest that any strategy for safeguarding vulnerable adults must be directed towards families who provide the majority of care for older people, rather than exclusively at paid carers.' — Prof. Gill Livingston

"But abuse as defined by government guidelines can be as simple as shouting or swearing at the person being cared for."

In the study appearing in Friday's British Medical Journal, a third of family caregivers said their abuse of the person they were looking after was significant — frequent insulting or swearing. Half said they occasionally screamed or yelled at the patient.

Cooper and her colleagues surveyed 220 family members of various socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds who were caring for people with dementia who had recently been referred to psychiatric services and living at home.

Significant physical abuse was reported by 1.4 per cent of caregivers.

The questionnaire asked how often in the last three months the respondents had acted in five psychologically and five physically abusive ways on a scale of zero to four in frequency.

A score of more than two was defined as "significant" abuse on the scale.

Protecting vulnerable adults

"Our findings suggest that any strategy for safeguarding vulnerable adults must be directed toward families who provide the majority of care for older people, rather than exclusively at paid carers," said co-author Prof. Gill Livingston.

The British government is currently revising its policy to protect vulnerable adults, but it is focused on abused by paid caregivers, Livingston said.

The researchers noted that the vast majority of family members caring for someone with dementia do a "fantastic" job under difficult circumstances.

But while the levels of minor abuse may seem high on the scale used, there may need to be a redefinition, they said.

An estimated 24 million people worldwide have the memory loss, disorientation, significantly impaired thinking and other symptoms that signal Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

In Canada, an estimated 290,000 Canadians — about one in 20 — have Alzheimer's. The number rises to one in four over age 85.