CTV
reported earlier this month about a disturbing case in at a Peterborough
facility where a woman in her 80’s suffering from Alzheimer’s was neglected and
abused by the staff charged with taking care of her. Her son had placed a
hidden camera inside of his mother’s room, and recording instances of one staff
wiping their nose on the bed sheets, while another staff aggressively handled
the mother, and even went so far as to wave a feces covered towel by her
face. While four staff members
implicated in the videos were fired from the facility, police and the crown
attorney have declined to arrest or charge the perpetrators, outraging the
family of the abused woman.
This
incident brings up several broader implications and questions about the way we
view or treat elders. One could argue
that this sets a disturbing precedent as people who were recorded and caught
committing elder abuse were not charged.
An elder abuse expert interviewed by reporters went so far as to claim
that if this case had involved a child, or a younger person, than the four
staff members would have been almost certainly charged. This raises an interesting point, as to
whether or not society views elder abuse as not as serious a concern as other
forms of abuse. You can find the report
at http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/it-s-despicable-son-reacts-after-told-no-charges-laid-in-mistreatment-of-mother-1.1442579
.
