NORTH BAY, ON – Two new reports that expose the high level of violence, abuse and harassment against staff working at Ontario long-term care homes, are being released at a media conference
on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. in the North Bay CUPE Area Office, 120 Lakeshore Drive,
North Bay.
The study titled, “Breaking Point: Violence Against Long-term Care Staff,” is a just-published, in-depth study of violence against long-term care staff in Ontario, conducted by Canadian researchers,
Dr. James Brophy and Dr. Margaret Keith, who are associated with the University of Windsor and the University of Stirling in the UK. The researchers, who held group interviews with long-term care staff in seven Ontario communities, will present their findings and recommendations for change on the media conference panel Wednesday afternoon.
A personal support worker and a registered practical nurse who participated in the study and who also experienced violence at work – and employer bullying for speaking out about it – are available for interviews.
In a second-related investigation, more than 1,000 front-line, long-term care staff, who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario, were polled on their experiences with workplace violence based on job roles and gender within long‐term care homes in Ontario. Poll result for North Bay and several other northern eastern Ontario communities show RPNs and PSWs experience higher rates of physical violence than the provincial average.
CUPE Ontario secretary-treasurer Candace Rennick and CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions secretary-treasurer and former Health Sciences North hospital worker Sharon Richer will release the poll findings that probed the frequency and type of violence long-term care experienced, as well as workers’ perceptions of resident care quality and adequate staffing levels.
Viewed together, the “Breaking Point” study and the poll offer an incisive look at violence as symptomatic of a sector that undervalues both its staff and residents and how violence affects workers’ health and well-being – causing injuries, unaddressed emotional trauma, job dissatisfaction, and burnout – and, ultimately, resident care quality.
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For more information, please contact:
Stella Yeadon, CUPE Communications, 416-559-9300, [email protected]
