The development of knowledgeable nursing assistants as creative caregivers (KNACC)

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) provide 80% of direct care in long-term care settings and are critical to maintaining resident well-being. Arts-based approaches to enhancing meaningful engagement have the potential to empower CNA ownership in the process of improving patient-centered care. We held a series of focus groups with CNAs (n = 14) to adapt arts-based creative caregiving (CCG) techniques for use in long-term care. Iterative revisions focused on CCG techniques, factors influencing implementation, and usability. The Knowledgeable Nursing Assistants as Creative Caregivers (KNACC) manual developed from the adapted CCG describes training guidelines and instructions to facilitate CNA use of creative caregiving techniques in direct care.