Acknowledging and Responding to Mistreatment in CARegiving (ARMCAR)

 

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Project description

The Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults is currently developing an online multicomponent training program to improve the prevention and management of mistreatment situations in a caregiving context involving persons aged 50 and older.

The program, entitled “Acknowledging and Responding to Mistreatment in CARegiving” (ARMCAR) will be offered to informal caregivers as well as employees and volunteers of Quebec organizations offering them direct support (community organization, cooperatives or domestic help social economy businesses, etc.). This program will be offered in the two official languages of Canada and will address mistreatment perpetrated by 1) the informal caregivers toward their older relatives they are caring for, 2) the older relatives toward their informal caregivers, and 3) situations of mutual mistreatment.

Project phases

Phase 1: Development of the program

The first phase of the ARMCAR project consists of developing the program and testing it with potential users. This phase is characterised by:

  • The development of the program which will be supported by:
    1. The realization of a scoping review of the scientific literature,
    2. An assessment of training needs of volunteers and employees of organization offering direct support to informal caregivers concerning mistreatment in a caregiving context involving persons aged 50 and older,
    3. Adapting two existing interventions:
      1. Toolbox: Treating caregivers well. A shared responsibility! (Éthier et al., 2020)
      2. Organizational tool: Model for the Management of Older Adult Mistreatment Situations (Couture et al., 2019).
  • Assessment of the online program’s usability which, by using interviews and questionnaires, will aim to:
    1. Document the users’ experience (employees, volunteers and organization managers and informal caregivers),
    2. Identify the obstacles and facilitators to its implementation.

Phase 2: Implementation and efficacity evaluation of the program

The second phase of the project consists in progressively implementing the ARMCAR program within 16 organizations and evaluate the effects on identification and reporting mistreatment situations in a caregiving context as well as on the health of informal caregivers who completed the program.

For more information on ARMCAR, do not hesitate to consult the project’s page: 

You can also contact the project’s coordinator:

Kevin St-Martin | info@maltraitancedesaines.com 

Community of Practice members:

Mélanie Couture, PhD

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Holder of the Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Université de Sherbrooke

Researcher in social gerontology for more than a decade, her research focuses on the co-construction and integration of clinical and organizational innovations for the prevention and management of mistreatment situations in the context of family care, in shared living environments and in the use of home support technologies.

Kevin St-Martin, M. Serv. Soc.

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Coordinator at the Elder Mistreatment Research Chair.

Since joining the Chair team in 2018, he has contributed to a variety of scientific papers and written several articles, book chapters, and government reports as an adjunct and research professional. His primary research interests include elder mistreatment and the use of technology in intervention practices.