Bullying in the nursing home?

QMedic Team

No extra room at the bridge table? Cliques and bullying more prevalent than we think according to Cornell researchers

“And just try to get into a bridge game...they’ll talk about bridge, and you’ll say, ‘Oh, I play,’ and they’ll tell you, ‘Sorry, we’re not looking for anyone.’”

-Excerpted from NY Times, Mean Girls in the Retirement Home, 1/17/15

An interesting study by Cornell researchers has found that bullying and resident conflict in senior housing is more prevalent than we might realize.  Here are some highlights:

  • Study canvassed 10 senior retirement homes in NY State servicing over 2,000 residents
  • Residents most likely to be involved in bullying incidents were people who were in the moderate stages of dementia, but were still physically able to move around
  • 16% were involved in a verbal clash
  • 10.5% experienced an invasion of privacy
  • 6% were involved in a physical altercation such as kicking, biting, or hitting
  • 1% experienced a sexual incident such as inappropriate touching/indecent exposure

Yikes!

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