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dutch care

It might seem a long way from the rough and tumble of the school playground to the peace and quiet of a nursing home for the elderly – but there’s one problem they both share: bullying. Dutch schools are doing all they can to tackle bullies. The Dutch Foundation for the Elderly told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that it’s high time similar measures were introduced in homes for the elderly.

A recent survey amongst residents of nursing homes found that 20 percent of those interviewed had been bullied by other residents. The study involved 180 people with an average age of 86. Although it’s a small-scale study, Jan Romme, Director of the National Foundation for the Elderly, considers it a clear sign that there’s a real problem.

Emotional abuse
Physical abuse of the elderly is a well-documented problem both here in the Netherlands and elsewhere, but the bullying that’s coming to light now, says Mr Romme, is primarily emotional.

"The emphasis of the bullying is actually isolating people. Talking badly about people, gossiping about people. It’s more a group process, in which they are left out. People get coffee – they don’t get coffee; people get cake when it’s someone’s birthday, they don’t get cake. They talk openly about that person, what’s wrong with that person, that they don’t like him or her. It’s not shoving or pulling someone’s hair or ears, it’s more psychological."

As funding shrinks and demand for places in nursing homes increases, cuts mean social activities are scrapped and residents get bored. This, believes Mr Romme, creates an atmosphere in which gossip and bullying become commonplace. While staff may be aware of the problem, there’s not much they can do about it:

"I don’t know if you’ve been in a Dutch elderly home lately, but the staff just have time to make up the beds, to give people their food. And while they are doing that, the bell has gone five times because they are needed by another person. There is no time to talk any more and certainly not to address this problem."

Protocols
It’s become increasingly common for schools to draw up protocols to deal with bullying. The National Foundation for the Elderly is now calling for a similar sort of document for care homes. Protocols in schools address the behaviour of both the bully and the bullied –  teaching victims to be more assertive.

That approach won’t work well with the elderly, according to Mr Romme. Getting the elderly to change their ways is like "flogging a dead horse", he says. So efforts need to be focused on changing the group mindset that leads to bullying. But who will take responsibility for doing this, when care home staff are even more pushed for time?

Confidential advisor
Schools often provide a confidential advisor, who victims can go to with their problems. This is essential to the elderly, who may be too scared to complain when they have to share their living quarters with their tormentors.

"Usually family also notice that there’s something wrong with their father or mother. For instance if they become very silent that could mean that they are being bullied or even abused. Then it’s good that the children of those elderly people can talk to someone in confidence. This is absolutely essential that such a person is there and that that person can be found. It can’t happen that if you have a complaint, you can’t talk to a person quickly."

A national protocol setting out anti-bullying measures is a positive step – but it isn't enough. The directors of nursing homes have cupboards full of protocols that are all too easily ignored according to the Foundation. That’s why they’re calling for the government to make a confidential advisor a legally binding requirement in all Dutch nursing homes. Yes, it will cost money, agrees Mr Romme, but perhaps that money can be found by cutting back on the fat salaries earned by top management in the geriatric care sector.