Type II violence in Portuguese nursing homes: Contributions to its characterization

Abstract

This article aims at contributing to the characterization of the phenomenon of violence practiced by institutionalized elderly people on “non-technical” care providers in Portugal. A cross-sectional, descriptive and quantitative study was carried out involving nine Particular Institutions of Social Solidarity of Braga and Oporto districts, wherein data on Type II Violence was collected via a questionnaire. The study included 156 workers, who did not belong to the technical staff of the institutions (mostly geriatric assistants) and those who, in the exercise of their functions, provided care for the institutionalized elderly. The results indicated that 64.7% reported having suffered from, at least, one type of violent behavior on the part of patients in the last 12 months. Psychological violence was the most reported, with emphasis on the threat of complaint to superiors (46.9%), while the most identified physical violence behaviors were scratching/pinching (44.4%), being held (35%), kicking (29.9%), spitting (29.6%), and beating (26.8%). The professionals who reported the occurrence of violent behaviors to the employer were those who presented a higher perception of severity as compared to those who did not report such behaviors. Although this is a pioneering study in Portugal, the results show that Type II Violence (both physical and psychological) is a common reality in nursing homes in the Northern Region of the country. Similar to Northern European studies, the phenomenon is normalized and underreported, which makes it difficult to implement strategies to prevent and combat this problem.