Abuse of a client in a residential care facility for the disabled

Investigation of Abuse at Residential Care Facilities
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Investigation of Abuse at Residential Care Facilities
Residential care facilities (RCFs) are fundamental institutions in society that not only offer accommodation but also personal care to individuals who require extra assistance in their daily lives including the elderly and disabled. Some of the personal care services provided at residential care facilities include assistance with eating, bathing and taking medication among others. These facilities are essentially staffed with qualified and experienced care givers to ensure the provision of quality services. Additionally, there are some RCFs that necessitate the availability of licensed medical practitioners such as nurses to attend to the health care needs of the residents. However, there have been notable concerns in the form of increased cases of abuse and mistreatment of disabled residents in these residential care facilities at the hands of the care givers. They are often left unattended for long spells, have their meals rationed and even sexually molested. These incidents usually leave the victims traumatized and worsen their conditions. As such, it is essential that social workers conduct regular surprise visits to these facilities and interact with the residents. They can apply memory and cognitive interviewing and root cause analysis to conduct investigations in protective services. The essay seeks to examine how these two concepts can be applied to investigate the abuse of a disabled resident in a residential care facility.
Abuse of Disabled Residents in Residential Care Facilities
Incidents of abuse and mistreatment of disabled persons in residential care facilities are quite common. Majority of these disabled individuals have issues with their limbs and consequently, require assistance to move around, bath, dress, and use the washrooms. However, while they check into residential care facilities with the hope that they will receive quality services from care givers, majority of them are often faced with various cases of abuse (Kim, 2016). They are neglected and forced to attend to themselves. They are also physically abused by being punched, kicked and forcefully restrained. They also suffer psychological mistreatment through intimidation and name calling and as such, plagued with emotional pain and fear (Kim, 2016). There are also residents who are sexually abused through unwanted kissing and caressing among other sexual encounters. Furthermore, the administration of excessive amounts of medications in the guise of sedating is also deemed a form of medication abuse.
Despite the trauma attached to all the above forms of abuse, the victims in most cases usually choose to suffer in silence. As a result, the mistreatments by the care givers could go on for years and in some cases lead to the demise of the disabled residents. Moreover, cases of abuse that are reported are usually swept under the carpet by the management in these residential care facilities and consequently, subject the “whistleblowers” to more torture (Kim, 2016). Therefore, it is highly recommended for social workers to conduct regular surprise visits to these institutions and provide protective services to the disabled residents.
Application of Memory and Cognitive Interviewing in Investigating Abuse of Disabled Residents in Residential Care Facilities
Many victims of abuse in residential care facilities are usually adamant to disclose the atrocities they face to relevant authorities for assistance. Similarly, there are instances where some of the disabled residents are oblivious to the mistreatments they are facing. For instance, they may be receiving overdosed medications to sedate them. As such, one notable mechanism that social workers can use to determine cases of abuse in these institutions is memory and cognitive interviewing. According to McColl (2006), “is a questioning technique used by the police to enhance retrieval of information about a crime scene from the eyewitnesses and victims memory”. Although it was primarily developed to help law enforcement officers to gather sufficient evidence, the concept can be applied by social workers in efforts to provide protective services to residents in RCFs.
Several techniques are involved during the memory and cognitive interviewing process. The social worker in this case will be the interviewer trying to collect information from a suspected victim of abuse by care givers at a residential care facility. To begin with, it is essential for the interviewer to try and mentally reinstate not only the environmental but also personal context of the abuse from the resident (Izumi, Vandermause & Benavides-Vaello, 2013). The initiative is intended to allow the disabled resident to get in touch with their feelings in the face of the abuse. It also facilitates the recreation of the abusive acts and in triggering context dependent memories. As such, the interviewer will encourage the disabled resident to use all their five senses to recollect on the unfortunate incidents. For instance, the social worker could ask how the resident felt when they saw blood oozing from their nose a...