Resident-to-resident aggression is the most common form of elder mistreatment in long-term care settings, yet the role of race and ethnicity in these interactions remains poorly understood.
I was happy to contribute to this work, led by Iggy E-Shien Chang, PhD, MA, along with Hannah Mason, Michelle Ma, Taimur Mirza, Jeanne Teresi, Charles Mouton, Danya Keene, Sonya Jhaveri, Sara Czaja, Mark Lachs, and Karl Pillemer.
Through focus groups and interviews with nursing home staff members, we identified multiple forms of race- and ethnicity-related aggression as well as distinct factors that predispose residents to these incidents or precipitate them.
Our findings suggest that race- and ethnicity-related resident-to-resident aggression is an important, recurring, and likely underrecognized phenomenon that deserves greater attention in research, clinical practice, and nursing home quality improvement efforts.
We hope this work provides a foundation for developing strategies to better recognize, prevent, and respond to these incidents and ultimately create a safer environment for older adults living in long-term care.