Nursing home violence in this province is increasingly becoming an issue because of a growing wave of dementia that’s led to twelve homicides in two years.

Representatives of Ontario’s Long Term Care Association are pleading with the provincial government to pay for a key tool now available to fewer than one percent of nursing homes.

Candace Chartier is the Chief Executive of the Ontario Long Term Care Association. Her organization is calling for $60-million from Queens Park over three years so expert teams can be placed in more homes.

Just 6 of 626 long term care homes in Ontario have been given funding to bring in a team of experts to find ways to reduce violence.

Within a year, one nursing home that hosted a team reduced anti-psychotic medications by almost 50 percent and residents showed much less agitation, restlessness and conflict.

A survey by the Long Term Care Association finds a striking rise in dementia and violence. Sixty-two percent of nursing home residents have Alzheimer’s Disease or other dementias, an increase of six percent since 2010. And close to half exhibit aggressive behaviour related to dementia or a mental health condition, while more than one in five show severe aggressive behaviour.