Citation

Anne Sharp C, Schulz Moore JS, McLaws ML. J. Law Med. 2018; 26(2): 494-509.

Affiliation

School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW, Sydney.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Thompson - LBC Information Services)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

30574733

Abstract

The prevention of elder abuse is a health priority around the globe. The Australian Law Reform Commission's 2017 report on Australian residential aged care facilities found that neglect may constitute elder abuse and that painful pressure ulcers (PUs) fall into this category. The purpose of this article is to examine deaths from PUs in elders 65 years and older. A database search of Australian cases identified four coroner's court cases. This article considers the role and potential of coroners' recommendations to prevent PUs. The origin and site of PUs, prevention, wound and pain management, quality of care and coronial recommendations were examined. Coronial recommendations were made in two of the cases. As judicial officers with a statutory public health function, coroners have the potential to play an important role in the prevention of deaths attributable to PUs. This article makes recommendations to harness the potential of the coronial jurisdiction to prevent PUs.

Language: en

Keywords

coroners; coroners' recommendations; death; pain