Nursing home operators often over-report the extent of their culture change adoption. Researchers have found several reasons for this curious phenomenon.
Some operators don’t fully understand everything that culture change entails. For example, earlier national surveys appeared to show that culture change was widely and thoroughly adopted by many homes, but a recent national survey found that only 15% of homes reported that culture change had “completely changed how we care for our residents.” The recent survey contained language that explicitly described culture change practices.
Other homes may over-report their culture change implementation because their unconscious biases about “institutionalization” prevent them from seeing areas of weakness in their programs.
Leonardville Nursing Home, a LeadingAge [Kansas] member in Leonardville, KS, might have succumbed to the dangers of over-reporting. But an incredible level of self-awareness among administrators, and a concerted effort to overcome conscious and unconscious biases among staff, families, and residents, have helped the home thoroughly adopt person-centered care and employee empowerment.
“Before learning about culture change, we thought we had been implementing person-centered care all along,” says Administrator Sandi Hageman.
View the entire article written by Linda Hermer, PhD for LeadingAge.
