Analysis of the theme of violence in policies of long-term care for the elderly

Abstract

This paper aimed to identify and analyze in national and international literature whether and how the theme of violence is addressed in the studies of public policies for older adults in Long-Term Care Institutions (LTCI). We conducted an integrative review of the published literature between 2010 and August 2016. The primary bibliographic databases were consulted using descriptors “idoso”, “políticas públicas”, “instituição de longa permanência para idosos”, “asilo”, “casa de repouso” and “ILPI” in Portuguese and their equivalent in English and Spanish. A total of 77 papers were analyzed, of which 12 were Brazilian and 65 were foreign (of these, 30 were from the U.S.). The analysis showed that many countries have long-term care policies governing the modalities of service providers. Only eight works addressed the issue of violence within LTCIs within older adults’ protection policies, and affirm that countries in Latin America and Asia must advance this agenda and place the issue of violence against seniors on the agenda of priorities. No Brazilian paper addressed the issue directly, although it has become clear that neglect and other forms of violence hang over Long-Term Care Institutions for the Elderly (LTCIEs).