Combating the maltreatment of older persons by staff in long-term care nursing homes: legal aspects.

A great deal of research has considered the dynamics of family violence and the way that family violence is processed and handled in the criminal justice system. Very little nursing research has considered the dynamics of older persons' maltreatment in long-term care. Older people living in a residential setting have the right to respectful care based on professional ethics. To fill this void, the current study proposes to identify policy implications for effectively implementing the recently developed Israeli public law designed to protect vulnerable older adults in nursing homes. In addition, this article presents the elder abuse reporting systems and the service delivery systems that have been established to protect older adults at risk of abuse and neglect.