Purpose – The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) was implemented in 2007 as a piece of legislation to empower and protect adults who require support making decisions. Many older adults in residential care homes will be in this position due to developmental disabilities associated with functional...

Purpose – There have been increased concerns about disciplinary procedures in relation to adult safeguarding. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the personal “boundary attitude” of workers is a strong component of their response to issues that have a safeguarding dimension....

The mental health field is viewed by some as reluctant to tackle the problem of abuse. While ‘adult protection’ offers one way forward, the authors of this paper caution against over‐enthusiastic borrowing from this paradigm. Instead they argue that mental health services will only become...

Despite the controversy surrounding physical restraint and seclusion in the care of vulnerable adults, the views of service users have had little impact on current practice. This paper reviews the literature documenting the personal views and experience of people with learning disabilities and...

The concept of care has attracted considerable policy and professional interest recently and there has been growing attention both to the needs of carers and how they may sometimes conflict with those of service users. This paper draws on initial research findings to examine experiences of care...

Tackling the problem of aggression and violence in health care is high on the agenda for healthcare professionals. In an endeavour to protect both patients and staff alike when managing aggressive behaviour, the use of physical restraint is under scrutiny, particularly as a result of the...

In this article we explore how inpatient mental health services in England and Wales are interpreting and responding to policy derived from Mainstreaming Gender and Women's Mental Health (DH, 2003) in relation to women's safety in inpatient settings. This article will outline the background to...

Although there has been a commitment to develop a policy framework to support vulnerable adults at risk of abuse, there remains concern around its lack of use within National Health Service inpatient settings and mental health services in particular. A gap between policy and practice appears to...

The current adult safeguarding system is failing people with mental health problems. Despite the introduction of the Department of Health's No Secrets guidance in 2000, abuse is still widespread in private homes, the community, and health and social care settings. New research from Mind...