Introduction
Learn how to design a quality-of-life assessment strategy useful for:
Assess for PR Value or Quality Improvement?
Nursing homes that set out to assess resident and/or family satisfaction with care or resident quality-of-life in their facilities face a sticky choice between two conflicting goals: Do you want to conduct an assessment that yields high satisfaction levels but is virtually useless from a care planning and quality improvement standpoint? Or, this time, do you want to design an assessment whose findings will enable you to provide resident-centered care, improve care in a particular area or identify areas that need improvement?
We do not deny the public relations allure of the first assessment type. It is especially attractive to an industry such as the nursing home industry, which must constantly defend itself against often scathing criticism by the media. But if you want to quell that criticism, then your facility should also consider conducting care quality assessments of the second type. While they may not make your services look as good, their results can be used to provide more resident-centered care and actually improve care so that, in fact, your services are good.
Reasons to Improve Improvement Efforts
In today’s long-term-care environment, nursing homes have compelling reasons to improve their improvement efforts. First and foremost is the availability—since November 2003—of public report cards for virtually every nursing home in the nation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes these reports on its website, not only to help consumers make informed decisions but also to motivate nursing homes to improve their daily care practices and resident outcomes. Field reports suggest that this long-term-care improvement initiative has indeed sparked new interest among nursing homes in enhancing their services.
The other impetus for change is that the nation’s tsunami wave of baby boomers has begun to eye nursing homes as possible residences for their elderly parents. This demanding, very vocal generation is notorious for its ability to transform the institutions it cares about. Though the baby boomers, acting on behalf of their frail parents, have only recently begun to flex their consumer muscle in the long-term-care industry, nursing facilities are taking note and redesigning their services to meet this generation’s expectations.
Back to Top or proceed to New Strategy
- Identifying resident’s individual preferences for care planning and resident-centered care delivery purposes
- Identifying nursing home care processes that need improvement
- Designing and evaluating quality improvement interventions
Assess for PR Value or Quality Improvement?
Nursing homes that set out to assess resident and/or family satisfaction with care or resident quality-of-life in their facilities face a sticky choice between two conflicting goals: Do you want to conduct an assessment that yields high satisfaction levels but is virtually useless from a care planning and quality improvement standpoint? Or, this time, do you want to design an assessment whose findings will enable you to provide resident-centered care, improve care in a particular area or identify areas that need improvement?
We do not deny the public relations allure of the first assessment type. It is especially attractive to an industry such as the nursing home industry, which must constantly defend itself against often scathing criticism by the media. But if you want to quell that criticism, then your facility should also consider conducting care quality assessments of the second type. While they may not make your services look as good, their results can be used to provide more resident-centered care and actually improve care so that, in fact, your services are good.
Reasons to Improve Improvement Efforts
In today’s long-term-care environment, nursing homes have compelling reasons to improve their improvement efforts. First and foremost is the availability—since November 2003—of public report cards for virtually every nursing home in the nation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes these reports on its website, not only to help consumers make informed decisions but also to motivate nursing homes to improve their daily care practices and resident outcomes. Field reports suggest that this long-term-care improvement initiative has indeed sparked new interest among nursing homes in enhancing their services.
The other impetus for change is that the nation’s tsunami wave of baby boomers has begun to eye nursing homes as possible residences for their elderly parents. This demanding, very vocal generation is notorious for its ability to transform the institutions it cares about. Though the baby boomers, acting on behalf of their frail parents, have only recently begun to flex their consumer muscle in the long-term-care industry, nursing facilities are taking note and redesigning their services to meet this generation’s expectations.
Back to Top or proceed to New Strategy
