Resident-Centered Care in 10 U.S. Nursing Homes: Residents' Perspectives

With increased focus on resident-centered care (RCC) as an organizational imperative and a guiding principle of culture change for long-term care communities, evaluation of its success has centered primarily on the organizational perspective.

For this case report, we examine resident perspectives of RCC in 10 nursing homes across the United States that had adopted RCC as a philosophy and model of care for at least 12 months with a maximum engagement of 3 years using a phenomenological approach.

Qualitative findings from 20 focus groups with residents in 10 nursing homes suggest that RCC has meaning in ways that are consistent with intentions at the national and state levels to advance culture change in nursing homes, including efforts to create a more homelike environment, increase resident decision making and direction of his or her lifestyle, and put residents first.

Residents attribute increased choice in wake and bed times, being heard by organizational leaders, and consistent staff assignment as positive changes since RCC began. However, according to residents, aspects of institutional life in nursing homes, inconsistent with RCC, remain. Residents identified three areas of improvement that would make nursing homes more resident centered. The three areas are response time, access to nature, and transparency about illness and death in the community.