'It is a sign of a system under pressure'. That was a testimony grievance by Rachael Brown on 28th March 2010. There has been a lot of pressure affecting facilities taking care of the vulnerable in our societies. Majority of those affected are our elderly, the young vulnerable juveniles as well as women in our society. This has been the case in many areas in the world. In Australia, nursing homes have attained a verge of collapse. According to the Sun-Herald, the accusations of physical assaults in nursing homes have risen by 50 percent, with sexual attacks having risen by 36 percent. The Australian government acknowledges that there is a grave crisis, and that additional attention should be paid to defend the susceptible in the community. The Australian government is devoting a lot more in taking care of the elderly to ensure that appropriate care is taken of the very fragile in our society. The Australia's health minister, Nicola Roxon described the situation as 'horrific'.
It has been accounted that there has been a major increase in the supposed substantial and gender related attacks. The 2007/08 report of the operation of the aged care act has shown that there were 725 reports of unnecessary force and 200 accounts of illegal sexual associations. The reports in 2008/09 are alarming. There were 12, 573 calls received, an increase of 1250 calls from the previous year. Out of these calls 33% were complaints about personal care and health, 16% concerning physical abuse in the centres, 13% about communication and discussions, 12% about the personnel in these nursing homes, while 11% concerned the physical environments of these homes (Browne, 2010). Besides these, 367 cases of missing residents in the first six months of the year were also noted. It was also noted that in one week two elderly care dwellers were emaciated, putting them at jeopardy. There were cases of corporal and compound containment of the elderly. It has also been proved that inhabitant of nursing homes go often go without appropriate analgesic care (Browne, 2010).
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The ethical standards in these nursing homes are constantly decreasing. In 2008/09 the aged care complaints scheme gave over 12500 elderly patrons a false pretence that their grievances would be fully addressed. Questions have been raised over the efficiency of the aged care complaints scheme. It is evident that there is need for lucidity in such crucial reviews concerning one of the most susceptible categories in the society should be prioritized (Browne, 2010). Cases of sexual assaults have also been reported elsewhere in the world. On the 15th November 2004, CBS evening news reported the story of a 77 year old granny who was sexually assaulted by another resident in nursing home in Florida. In another episode a disabled woman was assaulted in another Florida nursing home. In Chicago a quarter of the nursing homes have reported cases of sexual abuse since 2007. It is important for nursing homes to do a thorough background checks before admitting people into these homes. This will help curb cases of admitting people with criminal records, who become a threat to other residents in these nursing homes (Rosenfeld, 2010).In Australia the youth prison system has been under pressure. According to the New York Times magazine, a 15 year old boy passed away after being pinned to the floor in a youth prison. There has been intense pressure for the country to improve its very problematic juvenile detention system. The department of justice research has discovered that there has been use of unnecessary force on youths in detention. A task force assigned by the state found that use of force and lack of psychological health care is a serious dilemma for the 1600 juveniles in these detention centres in country every year. Children detained in these juvenile centres encounter many problems. Apart from the excessive physical constrain and lack of psychological fitness, children also under go very offensive situations in these facilities (Holguin, 2004).
The Australian senate has received a bill which if took effect would require the state to trace use of physical constrains in these detention centres. Research has shown that use of physical restraint could cause the death of children. The coalition for juvenile justice has been pushing for the passage of these bills. In many cases only 8.6% of youths freed from detention are recommitted in a period of three years. Looking at the national representation, the old model is undergoing a change and it is not good to continue with the old corrective disciplinary model. Critics of Australian juvenile systems say that the system is not doing a good a job.The government should set up a website where clients can see how the elderly care facilities perform. With the increasing number of people receiving care at these nursing homes, the government should increase the number of elderly nursing facilities. There should also be an increase in the number of qualified health workers in these facilities. If the workloads were rational and controllable, then these incidences would be minimized. Proper infection control should be given to the elderly. The appropriate medication should be made available. The elderly should be provided with appropriate diet and hydration. There should be enough staff to take care of the elderly. This would help eliminate cases of corporal and compound containment of clients. This would in turn reduce the reported cases of agonizing and preventable bedsores. Adequate funding of these facilities would enable smooth running of the nursing homes.