Purpose – The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) was implemented in 2007 as a piece of legislation to empower and protect adults who require support making decisions. Many older adults in residential care homes will be in this position due to developmental disabilities associated with functional...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set out and discuss findings from a developmental study, commissioned by the English Department of Health and the charity, Comic Relief, which was commissioned to clarify definitional issues and recommend ways of operationalising key concepts for a...

The registration and inspection of residential care services for vulnerable adults rests with local government but in 2002 responsibility passes to the new Commission for Care Standards. This paper looks at how inspection units understand and respond to adult protection issues, considers how...

This paper by the deputy chief executive of Counsel and Care describes the work this important voluntary organisation has undertaken to examine physical intervention issues, particularly as they affect older people in residential care. It explores the extent to which residents of care homes may...

The preparation of this paper was prompted by publicity and research evidence of neglect/abuse of older persons in residential care. It sets out to present a new way of combating neglect/abuse of individual residents, drawing also on preliminary findings from a long‐term research project on...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance and nature of relationships of trust in care settings. The paper addresses the central question of what is it about these kinds of relationships that is associated with harm and abuse? Design/methodology/approach – The paper...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of empirical research, which explores possible causal and risk factors linked to abuse or neglect in residential care facilities. Design/methodology/approach – Electronic database searches were conducted to identify and...

Purpose This paper aims to study themes of abuse and mistreatment of people with a learning disability. Personal stories of lived experience such as this are important pieces of learning and information for practitioners. This case study is intended to add to the limited available knowledge base...