Human Ecology researchers aim to lessen aggression among residents, reduce staff turnover, and improve communication with families.

Last December, a 98-year-old Massachusetts woman became the oldest person charged with murder in state history for allegedly killing her centenarian roommate. The deadly assault followed a dispute over a piece of furniture the two nursing home residents shared.

Though an extreme case, the shocking incident brought to light a type of elder abuse that vexes nursing home residents, their families, and frontline caregivers: resident-to-resident elder mistreatment, a largely unstudied occurrence that takes the form of verbal attacks, physical violence, and, less commonly, sexual assault.

To better understand this issue, Human Ecology researchers, in collaboration with physicians at Weill Cornell Medical College, are midway through the first large-scale study of verbal and physical aggression among nursing home residents. Read the full story