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Manitoba launches Canada’s first registry to track abusive adult-care workers

The province of Manitoba is blazing a trail in the fight against mistreatment of vulnerable adults with mental disabilities or dementia with the creation of Canada's first adult-abuse registry.

The initiative should be closely watched to see how it works as Baby Boomers age and more people try to find safe care facilities for their elderly parents.

The Manitoba government says the registry will help keep people who abuse or neglect vulnerable adults from working with them in the future, the Winnipeg Free Press reports.

Health Minister Theresa Oswald said names of people convicted of harming adults in their care would be placed on the registry automatically. If there is no conviction, a committee would determine if the person's name should be included, CBC News said.

Employers could then use the registry to screen prospective new hires. Registry checks for salaried employees would be subject to a fee, which would be waived for screening volunteers.

The regulations, put into place under Manitoba's Protection for Persons in Care legislation, come into effect March 15.

According to the registry's web site, the people protected by the legislation include adults living with a mental disability who need help to meet basic needs for personal care or to manage their property.

[ Related: Lawsuit accuses Winnipeg care home of negligence ]

“This regulatory change builds on the important work already being done by the Protection for Persons in Care Office as they investigate reports of abuse and help protect Manitobans living in health-care settings,” Oswald said, according to the Winnipeg news site Chrisd.ca

“Reporting to the registry adds another layer of protection for adult Manitobans and empowers the PPCO to do more on their behalf.”

As the population ages, concerns about abuse of the vulnerable elderly seem to be rising. Videos secretly recorded by the relatives of nursing-home residents have caught instances of apparent abuse.

A Toronto Star investigation into reports of abuse at Ontario care facilities prompted the provincial government to set up a task force aimed at tightening the rules governing the system that cares for almost 80,000 seniors.

[ Related: Nursing home sexual assault not stopped: relatives ]

The Star turned up hundreds of examples of abuse, including a 71-year-old woman with dementia allegedly raped in her bed by a male nurse connected to a string of other sexual assaults.

The family of Winnipeg nursing home resident Lillian Peck launched a lawsuit against the facility last year, alleging neglectful treatment contributed to her death in 2010 at age 93.

The province's Protection of Persons in Care Office investigated Peck's death and described her treatment as "physical abuse by neglect," the Free Press reported.