Supporting staff as change leaders in consumer engagement in aged care: Learnings from action research.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to explore the process of staff leading change in consumer engagement practice in aged care. BACKGROUND: Shifting expectations make engagement practice increasingly complex for service providers. This requires adaptive change within organisations. Organisations need to empower and support staff to critically assess practice, identify issues and pursue opportunities for innovation. METHOD: Data were collected as part of an action research project addressing client engagement practice in Australian aged care. Staff worked together to identify issues for practice, generate solutions and create change within their organisations. RESULTS: Staff identified innovative ways of generating change, demonstrating leadership. However, a range of technical, practical, systemic and philosophical factors impacted their progress. CONCLUSIONS: Staff are effective, proactive change agents who can provide valuable insights into directions for their organisations and can lead practice improvement in engagement. However, they require support through the organisational environment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Staff in all roles can demonstrate adaptive leadership in changing engagement practice. However, those in traditional roles of authority need to recognize their own roles in showing leadership and supporting adaptive change. This provides a new insight into how managers can support practice change in consumer engagement.

Spiritual reminiscence therapy for older people with loneliness, anxiety and depression living in a residential aged care facility, Malaysia: A qualitative approach.

OBJECTIVE: To explore how older people with loneliness, anxiety and depression experience a spiritual reminiscence therapy (SRT) program and to explore its acceptability within the Malaysian population. METHODS: Unstructured observations and a focus-group discussion were carried out with 18 participants involved in a six-week SRT program in a residential care facility in Kuala Lumpur. RESULTS: Analysis revealed four themes: (i) Enthusiastic participation; (ii) Connections across boundaries; (iii) Expressing and reflecting; and (iv) Successful use of triggers. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the process of reminiscence, on which the program was based, was enjoyable for the participants and created opportunities to form connections with other members of the group. The use of relevant triggers in the SRT program that related to Malaysian cultures, ethnicities and religions was helpful to engage the participants and was acceptable across the different religions and ethnicities.

Interventions to build resilience in family caregivers of people living with dementia: a comprehensive systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have indicated that family caregivers of people with dementia have higher rates of depression, anxiety and hopelessness, as well as higher levels of burden, stress and distress. Not all caregivers, however, succumb to the negative effects of caring. Caregivers who are able to recover from, resist or adapt to the physical and psychological demands of caring can be considered "resilient". OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to examine the existing evidence regarding interventions for building resilience in family caregivers of people living with dementia. INCLUSION CRITERIA TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS: This review considered studies that included family caregivers of people with dementia. TYPES OF INTERVENTION(S)/PHENOMENA OF INTEREST: Studies investigating interventions to build resilience in family caregivers were considered by the review. For qualitative studies, the phenomena of interest were family caregivers' experiences of the interventions including factors affecting implementation and their subjective experience of outcomes. CONTEXT: Studies conducted in any cultural or geographical context and any settings including participants' homes in the community, residential aged care or hospital, medical or allied health practice were considered for inclusion. TYPES OF STUDIES: Quantitative studies incorporating experimental and descriptive study designs and qualitative studies, including, but not limited to, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, action research and feminist research were considered for inclusion. OUTCOMES: Quantitative studies were included that contained either objective or subjective outcome measures (or a combination of both). In cases in which proxy measures of resilience were used, only those papers that explicitly related the aims of the intervention and the measurement of outcomes to resilience itself were considered for inclusion. Proxies could include, but were not limited to, self-efficacy, locus of control, perceived burden, psychological wellbeing, strength, coping, positive adjustment and resourcefulness. Qualitative studies were similarly considered for inclusion if they explicitly related the aims of the intervention to resilience. SEARCH STRATEGY: Eleven electronic databases were searched for research studies published in English in or after 1990. METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: Quantitative and qualitative studies selected for retrieval were assessed by two independent reviewers for methodological validity using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) and Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI). DATA EXTRACTION: Quantitative and qualitative data were extracted from publications included in the review using the standardized data extraction tools from JBI-MAStARI and JBI-QARI. DATA SYNTHESIS: It was not possible to pool quantitative findings for statistical meta-analysis using JBI-MAStARI. Qualitative research findings were too limited to be pooled using the JBI-QARI. The findings are presented in narrative form. RESULTS: The review included three publications reporting one quantitative intervention study and one mixed-method intervention study. There was a lack of available studies and, of the two intervention studies that were identified, neither found any statistically significant change in quantitative measures of resilience. Qualitative data suggested positive impacts of a poetry writing intervention and a positive experience of the intervention. CONCLUSION IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The studies differed in both the nature of the intervention and the way resilience was conceptualized and operationalized. Consequently, it was not possible to offer any recommendations for practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Implications for research relate to the development of a more comprehensive theory of resilience in family caregivers that can be used to develop and rigorously evaluate reliable and valid measures of resilience in line with that theory. Further, well-designed, sufficiently powered intervention studies informed by theory are needed.

Evaluation of Subscription-based Culture Change Models in Care Settings: Findings From a Systematic Review.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Person-centered culture change models to which aged care service providers subscribe are gaining increasing traction. It has been suggested that culture change initiatives broadly are subject to a range of issues. It is difficult, however, to draw out from the existing literature specific information about the scope and quality of evidence regarding subscription-based approaches. The purpose of this study was to identify and review the peer-reviewed literature regarding these subscription-based models. DESIGN AND METHODS: The review used the Joanna Briggs Institute process and tools. Studies reporting on subscription-based person-centered culture change models in health and aged care, published in peer-reviewed literature in English up to and including 2015 were identified and assessed. In all, 28 articles reporting on 33 studies were included in the review. RESULTS: There was no single model for which a significant body of evidence was identified, and approaches to outcomes were fragmented. Research approaches varied. Rigor and reporting were of concern; however, strengths of the evidence base included generally adequate sample sizes and the use of multiple methods including large data sets and standardized scales. IMPLICATIONS: Despite their structured approaches, research and evaluation for subscription-based models are limited, ad hoc, and fragmented. A more comprehensive program of research that is embedded in the implementation process is needed. Recommendations include use of longitudinal study designs, attention to implementation and contextual factors, and measurement of both process and outcomes across the full range of culture change domains.

What Health and Aged Care Culture Change Models Mean for Residents and Their Families: A Systematic Review.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: A range of commercialized programs are increasingly being adopted which involve broad culture change within care organizations to implement person-centered care. These claim a range of benefits for clients; however, the published evidence for client and family outcomes from culture change is inconclusive and the evidence for these specific models is difficult to identify. The purpose of this review was to identify and evaluate the peer-reviewed evidence regarding consumer outcomes for these subscription-based models. DESIGN AND METHODS: The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute procedure. The review considered peer-reviewed literature that reported on studies conducted with health and aged care services, their staff, and consumers, addressed subscription-based person-centered culture change models, and were published in English up to and including 2015. The review identified 19 articles of sufficient quality that reported evidence relating to consumer outcomes and experience. RESULTS: Resident outcomes and family and resident satisfaction and experiences were mixed. Findings suggest potential benefits for some outcomes, particularly related to quality of life and psychiatric symptoms, staff engagement, and functional ability. Although residents and families identified some improvements in residents' lives, both also identified problematic aspects of the change related to staff adjustment and staff time. IMPLICATIONS: Outcomes for these models are at best comparable with traditional care with limited suggestions that they result in poorer outcomes and sufficient potential for benefits to warrant further investigation. Although these models may have the potential to benefit residents, the implementation of person-centered principles may affect the outcomes.

'We're in the sandwich': Aged care staff members' negotiation of constraints and the role of the organisation in enacting and supporting an ethic of care.

Aged care staff are often seen as holding power in care relationships, particularly in client engagement. Such a perception, however, may limit our understanding and analysis of the dynamics and politics within care spaces. This paper uses interview and focus group data from both staff and clients of an Australian aged care provider to identify the positions given to, and taken up by, staff in client engagement. Focusing on one of these positions, in which staff are seen as managing and negotiating constraints, the paper uses an ethic of care lens to examine the context in which engagement - and this position taking - occurs. Findings reflect the importance of the organisational and systemic context to the practice of care ethics and the potential vulnerability and disempowerment of care giving staff. Implications for the support of staff in client engagement and the role of care organisations beyond structures and processes to an active participant in an ethic of care are discussed.

Staff members' negotiation of power in client engagement: analysis of practice within an Australian aged care service.

With increasing focus on client control and active client roles in aged care service provision, client engagement is highlighted as fundamental to contemporary care practice. Client engagement itself, however, is complex and is impacted by a range of issues including the relationships and power dynamics inherent in the care context. These dynamics do not simply reflect the roles that are available to or taken up by clients; just as important are the roles and positions that staff of aged care services are offered, and take up, in client engagement. This paper presents the findings of a study that explored client engagement practice within a large Australian service provider. Analysis of interview and focus group discussions addressed the ways in which staff were positioned - by both themselves and by clients - in terms of the roles that they hold within engagement practice and the power relations inherent within these. Analysis of power from the dominant policy perspective of choice and control, and the alternative perspective of an ethic of care suggests that power relations within the care context are dynamic, complex and involve on-going negotiation and regulation by clients and staff members in aged care. The use of these two contrasting perspectives reveals a more dynamic and complex understanding of power in care practice than dominant uni-dimensional approaches to critique suggest.

Participation and power in care: exploring the "client" in client engagement.

Despite growing recognition in health and care services of the necessity for client engagement, it is still not easily put into practice. This is owing to a range of factors relating to participating staff and clients, as well as the broader institutional context. One of the central factors affecting client engagement is the challenge it poses to traditional power relations inherent in care relationships and contexts. This is particularly the case in aged care services, which have traditionally positioned older adults in passive roles as "recipients" of care, or as lacking capacity to participate in care decision making. This paper presents an exploration of client engagement practices within a large aged care service provider in Australia. Interviews and focus group discussions with clients and staff were analysed for the ways in which clients were positioned - by both themselves and by staff - in terms of the roles that they hold within engagement practices. Four positions were identified: "Passivity, disempowerment and bestowal of power", "Role of expert/consumer", "Resistance, compliance and manageability", and "Complexity, diversity and uniqueness". While clients were positioned at times in empowering roles, they were simultaneously limited by personal, relational, or organisational constraints, making opportunities for client engagement provisional. This reflects a tension between passive and empowered client roles in the context of aged care provision.

Family involvement in decision making for people with dementia in residential aged care: a systematic review of quantitative literature.

AIM: Ensuring older adults' involvement in their care is accepted as good practice and is vital, particularly for people with dementia, whose care and treatment needs change considerably over the course of the illness. However, involving family members in decision making on people's behalf is still practically difficult for staff and family. The aim of this review was to identify and appraise the existing quantitative evidence about family involvement in decision making for people with dementia living in residential aged care. METHODS: The present Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) metasynthesis assessed studies that investigated involvement of family members in decision making for people with dementia in residential aged care settings. While quantitative and qualitative studies were included in the review, this paper presents the quantitative findings. A comprehensive search of 15 electronic databases was performed. The search was limited to papers published in English, from 1990 to 2013. Twenty-six studies were identified as being relevant; 10 were quantitative, with 1 mixed method study. Two independent reviewers assessed the studies for methodological validity and extracted the data using the JBI Meta Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI). The findings were synthesized and presented in narrative form. RESULTS: The findings related to decisions encountered and made by family surrogates, variables associated with decisions, surrogates' perceptions of, and preferences for, their roles, as well as outcomes for people with dementia and their families. CONCLUSIONS: The results identified patterns within, and variables associated with, surrogate decision making, all of which highlight the complexity and variation regarding family involvement. Attention needs to be paid to supporting family members in decision making in collaboration with staff.

A qualitative metasynthesis: family involvement in decision making for people with dementia in residential aged care.

AIM: Involving people in decisions about their care is good practice and ensures optimal outcomes. Despite considerable research, in practice family involvement in decision making can be challenging for both care staff and families. The aim of this review was to identify and appraise existing knowledge about family involvement in decision making for people with dementia living in residential aged care. METHODS: The present Joanna Briggs Institute meta-synthesis considered studies that investigate involvement of family members in decision making for people with dementia in residential aged care settings. While quantitative and qualitative studies were included in the review, this article presents the qualitative findings. A comprehensive search of studies was conducted in 15 electronic databases. The search was limited to papers published in English, from 1990 to 2013. Twenty-six studies were identified as relevant for this review; 16 were qualitative papers reporting on 15 studies. Two independent reviewers assessed the studies for methodological validity and extracted the data using the standardized Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI). The findings were synthesized using JBI-QARI. RESULTS: The findings related to the decisions encountered and made by family surrogates, family perceptions of, and preferences for, their role/s, factors regarding treatment decisions and the collaborative decision-making process, and outcomes for family decision makers. CONCLUSION: Results indicate varied and complex experiences and multiple factors influencing decision making. Communication and contacts between staff and families and the support available for families should be addressed, as well as the role of different stakeholders in decisions.