Necessity of Reparations for People with Dementia in Long Term Care: Empirical Perspectives

Abstract

People living with dementia (‘PLWD’) have experienced significant human rights violations in long term care (‘LTC’) institutions, including institutionalisation, segregation, detention, violence, and neglect. Wide ranging and ongoing impacts of these violations on PLWD have not been redressed. This article argues for reparations for PLWD who experience harm in LTC institutions. Building on international human rights norms on access to justice and reparations for human rights violations, the article presents empirical findings from a research project on perspectives on reparations of PLWD and their support networks. The article discusses justifications for reparations given by people living with dementia and their support networks. The article reports on six key reasons why reparations are necessary: recognise harm, validate people’s experiences of harm, recognition of equality and humanity of PLWD, equal access to justice, systems transformation, and accountability. The article presents implications of these empirical findings for disability human rights scholars and practitioners.

Keywords

• dementia
• long term care
• human rights
• institutions
• redress
• reparations
• access to justice
• accountability