Measuring safety in older adult care homes: a scoping review of the international literature (5 February 2021)

Summary

Safety is a key concern in older adult care homes. However, it is a less developed concept in older adult care homes than in healthcare settings. As part of a study of the collection and application of safety data in the care home sector in England, a scoping review of the international literature was conducted by Rand et al.

The findings indicate that there are a range of available safety measures used for quality monitoring and improvement in older adult care homes. These cover all five domains of safety in the Safety Measurement and Monitoring Framework. However, there are potential gaps. These include user experience, psychological harm related to the care home environment, abusive or neglectful care practice and the processes for integrated learning. Some of these gaps may relate to challenges and feasibility of measurement in the care home context.