A Study of Caregivers’ Psychological Abuse Intentions to the Elderly with Dementia in Senior Welfare Institutions

[[abstract]]由於家庭及社會型態的改變，越來越多的老人必須至長期照顧機構接受照顧，此時，機構所衍生出的虐待老人問題更不容忽視。機構虐待老人的形式除了身體傷害之外，有更多是受到照顧服務員不適當的言語及行為對待，造成了老人精神上的傷害。由於此類型的虐待方式往往難以被發現，更突顯出其研究精神虐待議題的重要性。本研究旨在探討機構照顧者與老人精神虐待行為的相關因素及探討。以量化研究方式，針對100 名中部地區照顧服務員進行問卷調查，並輔以質性訪談，訪談3 名照顧服務員。本研究之研究結果如下： 1. 照顧負荷方面：照顧服務員年齡越高，其照顧負荷越低；老人問題行為越嚴重，其照顧負荷越高。 2. 施虐傾向方面：照顧服務員照顧失智老人人數越多，其施虐傾向越高；照顧服務員工作壓力越高，其施虐傾向越高；照顧服務員照顧負荷越高，其施虐傾向越高；老人問題行為越嚴重，其施虐傾向越高。 3. 經階層迴歸分析顯示，整體解釋變異量為 24.8%，其中照顧服務員於機構中的工作壓力、照顧的失智老人人數、老人教育程度為有效預測施虐傾向的因子。 最後，根據本研究之結論，分別就政策面、實務面及學術面提出相關研究建議。[[abstract]]Change in family and social patterns have contributed to the increase in the number of the elderly living in senior welfare institutions, generating many potential issues for elderly abuse. In addition to physical injury, the elderly are mentally and psychologically victimized from the verbal and behavioral mistreatment by caregivers. However, it is a big challenge to discover such psychological abuse for elders. Therefore, the behavior of caregiver’s psychological abuse for dementia elders in senior welfare institutions is explored in this thesis. This quantitative research investigates a hundred caregivers in the central region of Taiwan by using questionnaires. Moreover, three caregivers are invited to join the in-depth interview. The investigation results are summarized as follows: 1. The caregivers face lower loading when they become older or the elderly are not in serious problematic behavior. 2. The increase in work stress, loading, problematic behavior and the number of dementia elders, for the caregivers will result in stronger intention to psychologically abuse the elderly. 3. Through the hierarchical regression analysis, all of the variables account for 24.8% variances. The number of dementia elders and the work stress for caregivers and the elderly education are three important factors to efficiently predict the intention to psychologically abuse the elderly. Finally, according to the findings and conclusions, there are some suggestions for policy, practices and academic research in this thesis.[[note]]碩