The Mainichi: 6 February 2016
Securing elder care environment is one of the major policy of the Abenomics. The government announced to increase the number of Senior Citizens Nursery facilities. However, Elder Care Workers at Senior Citizens Nursing Homes are put into very stressful condition while their salaries are lower than average.
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An inquiry uncovered a record high of 300 cases of abuse of elderly individuals by nursing home employees and in-home care workers in fiscal 2014, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced on Feb. 5.
The figure was 35.7 percent higher than the number of cases recorded the previous year. It was the eighth year in a row following the launch of the investigation in fiscal 2006 for the highest figure to be recorded.
Particularly noteworthy aspects of the ministry's inquiry were the speed at which the cases were increasing -- with the figure essentially doubling during the two-year period since fiscal 2012 -- as well as the fact that 77.3 percent of those suffering the abuse were dementia patients who were living with difficulties in their day-to-day lives.
The investigation was based on the Elder Abuse Prevention and Caregiver Support Law that went into effect in 2006, which requires that cases of abuse be reported. It involved local governments looking into the specific reports and inquiries they had received on abuse of elderly individuals, and tallying up the cases they regarded as constituting abuse.
According to these figures, 10 out of a total of 691 victims faced situations of severe danger to their lives, bodies, or day-to-day living situations -- including injuries such as both thighbones being broken.
The reported content of the abuse (with multiple answers allowed) was as follows: 441 people (63.8 percent) suffered physical abuse, involving bodily violence or being physically restrained; 298 (43.1 percent) suffered psychological abuse, such as insulting language; and 117 (16.9 percent) suffered economic abuse, including financial embezzlement.
The number of reported abuse cases and inquiries received by local government offices was also the highest-ever recorded figure, at 1,120.
The greatest contributing factors to the abuse (with multiple answers permitted) were problems concerning education, knowledge, and/or care-related techniques on the part of caregiving employees, which manifested as a lack of understanding toward care work, at a total of 184 cases (62.6 percent). This was followed by problems of stress on the caregivers' part, and the inability to control their own emotions, at 60 cases (20.4 percent).
Given the extremely tough working conditions, the turnover rate of caregiving employees is exceptionally high, making it difficult to cultivate a cadre of experienced workers.
Meanwhile, abuse by immediate family members and other relatives stood at a total of 15,739 cases -- a figure that had basically remained unchanged since the previous fiscal year. There were a total of 16,156 people who suffered abuse at the hands of family, with 25 elderly individuals dying as a consequence. Forty percent of the perpetrators were identified as victims' sons, and 20 percent as their husbands.
The types of abuse suffered (with multiple responses allowed) were those of physical abuse at 10,805 people (66.9 percent), and psychological abuse at 6,798 (42.1 percent). The most common reason for the abuse was that of exhaustion and stress on the part of the caregiver, at 23.4 percent.
At a private elderly care facility in the city of Kawasaki's Saiwai Ward in Kanagawa Prefecture, where three elderly residents fell and died, it was found that employees had been subjecting patients to physical violence and verbal abuse.
Similar cases of physical and verbal violence, as well as extended periods of time in which residents were left unattended, were likewise discovered to be taking place at various facilities around the country operated by Message, the parent company that runs the Kawasaki care home.
Meanwhile, a questionnaire overseen by an umbrella association of elderly care home operators comprising four separate organizations, including the Japanese Association of Retirement Housing, revealed painful cries for help from people working in the elderly care profession -- a reality that many are identifying as a factor in elderly abuse carried out at the hands of care facility employees.
The umbrella association held workshops in November and December last year that were aimed at preventing elderly abuse, with 1,815 of around 2,200 participants completing the questionnaire. Among these, some 82 percent said that they believed elderly abuse was taking place in their workplace, or that it was possible.
"Inexperience leads to people being pushed to their emotional limits, which can become the final straw that leads to cases whereby they lash out," noted Hiroshi Nagata, the association's executive director.
He added, "Caring for people with dementia in particular requires a high level of skill, and is very difficult."
According to the health ministry, the average monthly salary in 2014 for employees at social welfare facilities was 219,700 yen -- roughly 110,000 yen lower than the average monthly salary in the field, which stands at 329,600 yen. In fiscal 2014, the job turnover rate stood at 16.5 percent.
A lack of employees has exacerbated long working hours, leading to exhaustion and stress for employees whose working environment is already a very strenuous one.
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