Culture Change In Long-Term Care

570 Words2 Pages

Culture change in long-term care is a set of guiding principles based on person-centered care tailored to each elder’s care while treating them with dignity and respect. Core values include relationship, personal choice, self-determination, and purposeful living (“Defining Culture Change”, n.d.). In person-centered care, quality of life is recognized to be as important as the quality of care. It is also recognized that every person has the right to be allowed to make their own decisions, even if those decisions may not always be safe. Finally, at the very heart of person-centered care is the relationship between the elder and their caregivers in which the way a task is done is as important, if not more, than the task itself (Jones, 2011). …show more content…

Long-term care facilities that have implemented a high degree of culture change (as scored from a survey derived from a 2009/10 national nursing home survey) have had a significant decrease in the use of restraints, tube feeding, and pressure sores. Culture change is also associated with an increased number of residents on bladder training programs and a small reduction in the number of hospitalizations/resident/year (Miller, Lepore, Lima, Shield, & Tyler, 2014). When residents have been allowed to participate in their diet decisions, they have been found to have increased appetites and enjoyment of food, both of which are equated with quality of life. Alternatively, strict diets have been shown to result in lower intakes leading to weight loss and undernutrition. (Dorner, Niedert, & Welch, 2002). Offering a wide variety of foods with 24/7 access to allows active participation in choosing their own diet. Eliza Jennings homes were assured resident health was not compromised as a result of person-centered care by performing regular Accu-Checks and other diagnostic checks to monitor the health of the residents (“Case Studies in Person-Directed Care”,

Open Document