Examining ethical issues that arise in providing ED/hospital care for patients experiencing elder mistreatment and approaches to address them.

Clinicians in the emergency department and hospital who treat patients experiencing elder mistreatment (EM) can expect to encounter challenging ethical dilemmas. Collaboration with ethics and EM consultation services offers teams an important opportunity to improve patient-centered outcomes and address value-based concerns when treating these patients. This article describes the role of a hospital clinical ethics consultation service and best practices for collaboration between ethics and EM consultation services. Illuminated via four case studies, the article presents several core ethical frameworks, including allowing patients the dignity of risk, considerations around a harm reduced discharge, involving abusers in surrogate decision making, and providers' experience of moral distress when dealing with patients experiencing EM. Increasing collaboration with ethics and elder mistreatment services can help teams more effectively respond to EM.

Surveying clinician perceptions of risk assessment and management practices in mental health service provision.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to survey multidisciplinary mental health staff on their perceptions of risk assessment and management practices in a local health district in Sydney. METHODS: The research team developed the risk assessment and management survey (RAMS) which was distributed to staff across the district from November 2013 to January 2014. RESULTS: A total of 340 RAMS were distributed and 164 were returned (48% response rate). There was considerable agreement that risk assessment and management is essential to maintaining safety and delivering good mental health care, and respondents reported high levels of confidence in their judgement when carrying out such practices. Respondents identified organisational pressure in relation to risk assessment and management but also felt supported. However, 65% of respondents considered that there 'is good evidence that risk assessment and management practices are effective in reducing risk in mental health care', when this is not the case. CONCLUSION: The confidence that clinicians placed in risk assessment and management practices (despite an absence of evidence) is disconcerting. Given the dominance of risk assessment and management, health services mandating such practices have a duty to inform employees of the current evidence base for this approach in reducing risk.

Promoting Resident Autonomy to Maintain Quality of Life.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian governments and healthcare organizations implemented restrictions on continuing care residents. From an ethical lens, governments and healthcare organizations were focused on preventing harm through promoting beneficence and non-maleficence; however, this was at the expense of resident autonomy. The rights of continuing care residents were stripped away when they were not given the opportunity to make informed decisions regarding their care and day-to-day life. Governments and healthcare organizations denied them the dignity to experience the positive outcomes that result from risk-taking based on their personal values and preferences. In an attempt to prevent resident harm from COVID-19 cases and deaths, governments and continuing care facilities forced residents into isolation. This negatively affected residents' quality of life in the form of physical, mental, and cognitive health deterioration. Moving forward, governments and healthcare organizations need to take the time to engage residents in decision-making and policy development that affects their care, treatment, and support system. Governments and healthcare organizations must promote and safeguard resident autonomy to maintain quality of life.

Integrity in Guardianship Decision Making: Applying the Will and Preferences Paradigm.

Guardianship laws have changed significantly over the 20th and 21st centuries to shift from the "best interests" model to the "supported decision-making" model. Such changes reflect the importance of supporting the dignity of risk of persons who lack decision-making capacity for some decisions. Recent changes to the Victorian Guardianship and Administration Act 2019 (Vic) in Australia require guardians to give effect to the "will and preferences" of the represented person, as far as practicable. The changes reveal a compromise between the competing rights to autonomy and to safety. Here, we explore the meaning of "will and preferences" before considering the personal factors that may contribute to the understanding of an individual's will and preferences. The practical challenge of ascertaining, interpreting, and giving effect to a person's will and preferences are also discussed. Finally, we consider the practical challenge of identifying when a person needs decision-making support.

Use of Alcohol in Long Term Care Settings: A Comparative Analysis of Personal Choice, Public Health Advice and the Law.

Alcohol is one of the most widely available psychoactive substances globally. Many accept the risks associated with alcohol consumption for reasons such as social engagement and feelings of pleasure. Alcohol consumption in a nursing home (NH) setting highlights the moral and logistical challenges of balancing the need for a safe living and working environment with the dignity of risk (DoR) and personal autonomy of residents. This analysis explores public health, human rights, and legal frameworks in their approach to a NH resident's choice to drink alcohol. Key issues under the public health framework include the medical risks associated with alcohol consumption, whether residents with impaired cognitive functioning have the capacity to make a decision about alcohol consumption, and the practical and ethical implications of supplying alcohol to residents. Under a legal framework, NHs must consider the legal imperative to respect residents' rights, the possibility of liability in negligence, duties owed to employees, the existence of substitute decision-makers, and liquor licensing laws. Fundamental considerations under the human rights framework include the damaging psychological effects of risk-avoidance and the importance of inclusive risk assessment processes. Alcohol policies should incorporate elements from all 3 frameworks. There is limited data publicly available about alcohol policies in NHs. Further research is needed to establish current practice and to evaluate the merits and disadvantages of different policies. Establishing inclusive and thorough decision-making processes is key to achieving better consumer-directed care.

Deaths due to thermal injury from cigarette smoking in a 13-year national cohort of nursing home residents.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the nature and frequency of deaths due to thermal injuries from cigarette smoking reported to Australian coroners and to examine the decisions which surround these deaths. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Residents dwelling in accredited nursing homes whose deaths were reported to coroners between 1 July 2000 and 30 June 2013 and attributed to thermal injuries from cigarette smoking. MEASURES: A descriptive analysis was undertaken to report socio-demographic characteristics of the deceased, medical history, mobility, level of observation, safety equipment provided/used, nursing home location, decision to smoke, timing of incident, time from incident to death, incident findings, mechanism of death, formal reports attached and coroners' recommendations. RESULTS: Ten deaths of nursing home residents due to thermal injury from cigarette smoking were reported in Australia over a 13-year period. The median age of residents was 78 years (IQR = 15.25); nine residents were female and one was male. Seven residents had impaired mobility with three residents being wheelchair bound and one resident bed bound. None of the residents were supervised by staff while they smoked, and none of the residents utilised any safety equipment to minimise harm. Burns/thermal injury was the mechanism of harm in most cases. CONCLUSIONS: This national study confirms that thermal injuries caused by cigarette smoking in nursing homes result in fatalities, particularly in the absence of supervision. It also demonstrates the complex tension arising from balancing autonomy with safety. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Nurses and aged care practitioners should endeavour to give effect to each resident's wishes while mitigating the risk of harm. The supervision requirements for cigarette smoking residents should be tailored to the needs of individual residents and staff should try to ensure that residents who require supervision receive it.

Managing risk for aging patients in long-term care: a narrative review of practices to support communication, documentation, and safe patient care practices.

Resident safety and welfare in long-term care (LTC) is being redefined as the focus shifts to promoting an optimal quality of life especially in LTC. Achieving this requires contemporary practice to improve the organization and staff's ability in identifying, communicating, documenting, and managing the risks that arise from the choices a person makes in pursuit of a better quality of life. This article is a narrative realist style review examining the issues of how to manage risks for older residents living in LTC. The issues are examined in six stages: context, identifying, communicating, documenting, enacting, reviewing and reflecting on how choices are made and risks managed. It is important for individuals to be supported in making an informed choice - this requires identifying, providing, and communicating the available options and the potential consequences. Documenting consent, perhaps with formal risk agreements, provides clarity for all involved and assists in determining how and who is responsible for enacting choices. Reviewing and reflecting upon the decisions and actions to enact choices are familiar to prudent LTC managers who implement and monitor robust governance systems. Learning from these experiences is essential to better meet individual resident, staff, organizational, and community expectations. Improving practice at each of the six steps should reduce adverse professional and legal repercussions and enable the resident, families, and staff to better cope with respecting choices when a known harmful outcome eventuates.

Remaining At Home With Severe Disability.

A person with primary progressive multiple sclerosis manages a complex scheme of personal assistance services to remain living at home.

Impediments to applying the 'dignity of risk' principle in residential aged care services.

This discussion paper identifies four core factors currently impeding the application of the dignity of risk principle in residential aged care settings in Victoria, Australia: the fluctuating decision-making ability of residents; multiple participants in decision-making; discordance between espoused values and actions; and confusion and fear around legal responsibilities of care providers. Potential solutions identified include a conceptual shift in approach and consensus between key stakeholders, as well as more tangible solutions such as education and point-of-care decision support tools.