Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
  • Publication
    Speaking Up About Adult Harm: Options for Policy and Practice in the Irish Context
    (University College Dublin, 2018-03) ;
    Current mechanisms for responding to the prevention and the protection of adults at risk of abuse in Ireland can be described as ad hoc and reactionary. For example, media reports exposing cases of abuse and neglect, such as Leas Cross and Áras Attracta, have resulted in the introduction of new safeguarding policies and inspection regulations. Whilst the current measures in place to identify and prevent harm and potential harm to adults at risk offer some protection, it is evident that deeply embedded resistance to cultural change within institutions and organisations demand that safeguarding procedures need to be placed on a statutory basis to ensure the safeguarding process is applied in a consistent and effective way.
      991
  • Publication
    Are you experiencing Carer Harm? Understanding Carer Harm: Autism
    (University College Dublin and Family Carers Ireland, 2023-03-27)
    If you are a family carer, ask yourself: Does the person I care for behave in a way that causes me physical injury, emotional pain, or other kind of harm? In my engagement with professionals and organisations, is my coping capacity and need for support recognized and responded to? Carer Harm is where a family carer experiences intentional or unintentional harm from the child/adult they are trying to support. This leaflet may be useful to carers of autistic adults or children
      51
  • Publication
    Position Paper on Adult Safeguarding, Legislation, Policy and Practice
    (Irish Association of Social Workers, 2022-10-25) ; ;
    The issue of adult safeguarding is of utmost importance for social workers and for the IASW. For those adults in need of safeguarding, the support and vindication of their integrity, autonomy, and human rights, as well as their protection and safety, may be dependent in large part on the role played by state agencies and civil society. Social workers have a particularly key role to play in adult safeguarding. The present position paper has been developed in the context of emerging legislation and new structures, policies, and services. In publishing the present position paper, which now supersedes a previous paper, the IASW seeks to influence the development and implementation of appropriate legislation, policy, and practice. This is in line with human rights values and best practices and based on our unique role, expertise, and experience as social workers, as well as being influenced by the voices and needs of the people we work with and their families. This is ultimately to seek to ensure that those adults who need professional safeguarding interventions, and their loved ones, receive the best possible services and protection.
      178
  • Publication
    Falling Through the Cracks: The case for change. Key developments and next steps for Adult Safeguarding in Ireland
    (University College Dublin, 2019-12-11) ;
    Adults are at risk of and experiencing harm and abuse all over Ireland, and for a variety of reasons including psychological, physical and financial abuse. According to a report commissioned by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), entitled ‘Financial Abuse in Ireland, 2019’, 20% of adults have experienced financial abuse and physical abuse of vulnerable adults has been witnessed/suspected by 1 in 3 adults. Last year there were 11,780 safeguarding concerns received by HSE Safeguarding and Protection Teams across Ireland according to the National Safeguarding Office Annual Report. This study sets out to explore how the absence of Adult Safeguarding legislation in the Irish context may be impacting on adults within the current safeguarding system from the perspective of social work practitioners, professionals or advocates who are working with them. The study seeks to shed light on how practitioners are navigating cases in the absence of primary legislation and to explore what benefits or challenges there might be should Adult Safeguarding legislation be fully enacted in the Irish context.
      1227
  • Publication
    Survey of Bereaved Relatives:Voices MaJam
    (Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and St. James's Hospital, UCD and TCD., 2017-06) ; ; ; ;
    End-of-life care is an experience that touches the lives of everyone on a personal or professional level. Of all people that will die in Ireland this year, 43% will die in adult acute hospital settings. Acute hospitals are busy places with a predominant focus on diagnosis, treatment and cure. However, caring for people who are seriously ill is also an important responsibility. The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and St. James’s Hospital are striving to ensure that people who are diagnosed with a life-limiting illness or who die in our care, experience a place of sanctuary where they are cared for in comfort and dignity and their families are supported in their bereavement. The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and St. James’s Hospital have targeted end- of-life care as an area for improving the quality of care for patients and their families. To enable this, both hospitals have actively sought to improve end-of-life care through their active participation in the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme, an initiative of the Irish Hospice Foundation. Measuring the quality of care provided is recognised as being fundamental to quality assurance and provides information to further enhance patient and family care. This study sought to ascertain the quality of care provided to patients and their families during their last admission to hospital from the perspective of bereaved relatives.
      306
  • Publication
    Are you experiencing Carer Harm? Understanding Carer Harm: Dementia
    (University College Dublin and Family Carers Ireland, 2023-03-27)
    If you are a family carer, ask yourself: Does the person I care for behave in a way that causes me physical injury, emotional pain, or other kind of harm? In my engagement with professionals and organisations, is my coping capacity and need for support recognized and responded to? Carer Harm is where a family carer experiences intentional or unintentional harm from the child/adult they are trying to support. This leaflet may be useful to carers of people living with dementia.
      64
  • Publication
    Understanding Carer Harm
    (University College Dublin and Family Carers Ireland, 2023-03-28) ;
    The global challenge of ageing populations and increasing numbers of people requiring care mean that by 2030, one in five Irish people will be a family caregiver (Family Carers Ireland, College of Psychiatrists of Ireland & UCD, 2019). Family Carers Ireland (FCI) research carried out in 2019 surveyed 1,102 family carers, 90% of whom were female. Almost half (44%) of carers reported that they regularly experienced either physical aggression or verbal/emotional abuse as part of their caring role. The study findings also suggested specific challenges for family carers of people living with dementia (PLWD) and autistic children/adults.
      268
  • Publication
    Carer Harm: Best Practice Considerations for Professionals
    (University College Dublin and Family Carers Ireland, 2023-03-27)
    The information and guidance in this document is based on a small research project that involved interviews with 9 family carers who have experienced carer harm as well as interviews and focus groups with a range of professionals. This document was co-designed using a World Café methodology and by drawing on the emerging research findings. The information does not relate to the experiences of all family carers. For further information on this project, please contact Dr Sarah Donnelly, Assistant Professor of Social Work, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, UCD: sarah.donnelly@ucd.ie
      109
  • Publication
    Adult Safeguarding and People Living with Dementia in Nursing Homes
    While there has been an increased focus on ageing in place in the Irish context, for some people, including people living with dementia (PLWD), nursing home care may be required to adequately meet their care needs as their dementia progresses and care needs increase. Nursing homes are the homes of many PLWD who, despite their frailty and health problems (including dementia), should be supported to enjoy a good quality of life, maintain, and develop relationships, and contribute to society (ADI, 2013).
      507
  • Publication
    Submission to Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Nursing Homes and Other Institutional Care Settings: A Framework for Examining the State's Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic
    We write to propose a human rights-based framework for the examination of the State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as it has concerned and continues to concern people in nursing homes and other institutional (or, ‘congregated’) care settings.
      371