Restraining those in care homes - a new survey
10/04/2007
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) is encouraging people to contribute to an online survey as part of a study on the use of restraint in care homes and homecare services.
They say that a balance is needed between, on the one hand, looking after people (and protecting them from harm), and on the other, ensuring that they can make their own decisions about how they want to live. CSCI wants to hear about people's views and experiences - particularly the problems experienced when older people are restrained without consent and the solutions that people have found.
CSCI suggests that there's a need to look beyond common understandings of physical intervention, to broader, more subtle forms of restriction. The study will include a focus on physical restriction, chemical restraint, environment, electronic surveillance, medical procedures, and culture and staff style.
The survey is one of the methods CSCI is using to complete the study, and includes examples of the sort of situations which sometimes occur.
The survey is online until May 31 and takes around fifteen minutes to complete. It can be found at the web link below.