Staff experiences with implementing a case conferencing care model in nursing homes: a focus group study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Home Care

Background:

• Most nursing home residents have dementia, often with neuropsychiatric symptoms.
• Care quality and modifiable factors significantly impact resident well-being.
• A team-based approach with comprehensive geriatric assessments and case conferences is recommended but underimplemented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore nursing home staff experiences with a team-based care intervention.
• To identify enablers and barriers to implementing and sustaining this intervention.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study using four focus groups with 19 healthcare staff.
• Thematic content analysis of transcribed interviews from intervention nursing homes.

Main Results:

• Staff reported organizational learning (improved care, adaptability) and individual learning (enhanced resident awareness, assessment skills).
• Key enablers included managerial support, change drivers, and intervention feasibility.
• Barriers comprised time constraints, insufficient training, inadequate electronic records, and inherent nursing home complexities.

Conclusions:

• Sustaining quality improvements in nursing homes is challenging.
• Management and staff awareness of enabling and constraining factors are crucial for high-quality, individualized dementia care.