The purpose of this study is to look into the effects of organizational factors on client-initiated violence in medical welfare institutions for the aged, improve the quality standard of social welfare service by suggesting an enhancement in environme...
The purpose of this study is to look into the effects of organizational factors on client-initiated violence in medical welfare institutions for the aged, improve the quality standard of social welfare service by suggesting an enhancement in environmental factor, and thus promote the welfare of the care workers. To achieve this, a survey was conducted on 282 care workers in medical welfare institutions for the aged, examined the actual state of client-initiated violence, organizational risk management system, and work condition to analyze how organizational risk management system and work condition influence the client-initiated violence. The results of data analysis and their implications are as follows:
First, among the organizational risk management system, the proactive measures had a negative correlation with overall client-initiated violence, sexual violence, property damage, and other types of violence. This finding suggests the importance of equipping the facilities with security devices, as well as better training and informing them of how to deal with the client-initiated violence.
Second, the reactive measures approach of the risk management process had a positive correlation with overall client-initiated violence, physical violence, verbal violence, sexual violence, and other types of violence because the reactive measures is typically not activated until a client initiates violent incidents and behaviors. This indicates that measures have to be taken, on one hand, to warn the client against the violence used, and on the other hand,
to help care workers out of physical and psychological trauma.
Third, the impact of working condition showed a negative correlation with overall client-initiated violence, physical violence, verbal violence, sexual violence, and other types of violence. This reveals that there is a connection between care workers' working condition and their job performance, and this relevance produces an improved quality standard results on the care service for the clients, which is a clear indication that an increased level of client satisfaction leads to a decrease in violence in the social welfare sector.
Forth, a negative correlation was observed between period of service and physical violence demonstrating that a longer service period with a well built client relationship may cause more contact with the client, which can inevitably increase the extent of exposure to violent incidents and behaviors. To solve this problem, a regular care worker training program should be adopted based on the working period of the care workers focusing on prevention of violence from the clients.
Fifth, care workers in their fifties showed a positive correlation to other types of violence. This represents that social workers are exposed to not only client-initiated violence but frequent contacts with family and caregiver of the patients: therefore, they are vulnerable to infectious diseases caused by the patients. In order to address this issue, the organization need to provide care workers with regular health screening in addition to an intensified prevention system at the organizational level against violence by clients' families and relatives.
The findings and suggestions in this paper show that proactive measures, reactive measures, and working condition have effects on client-initiated violences, and thus call for immediate action to improve care workers' working condition under organizational initiatives and set up an organization risk management system. Furthermore, attention and support need to be provided at the government level to seek various measures and apply them to the field situation with a view to reaffirm professionalism of the care workers, reduce their extent of damage arising from the client-initiated violence.