Experience of aggressive behaviour of health professionals in home care services and the role of persons with dementia

Abstract

Aims: To explore the view of health professionals on the form and frequency of aggressive behaviour of clients against health professionals in home care services. Design: An explorative cross-sectional survey was conducted. Methods: We conducted a survey using the Survey of Violence Experienced by Staff German version Revised (SOVES-G-R) and the Impact of Patient Aggression on Carers Scale (IMPACS). A convenience sample of 852 healthcare professionals from German-speaking Switzerland participated. Data collection was conducted between July–October 2019. Data were analysed descriptively using IBM SPSS Statistics. Results: Of the health professionals, 78.9% (N = 672) experienced aggressive behaviour since they worked in home care services. The most frequent aggressive behaviour was verbal aggression (75.6%, N = 644), while the most common predisposing factor was restriction in cognitive ability (71.3%, N = 67). Fear, burden and impairment of nursing relationship were common consequences of aggressive behaviour.