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Facilitating change in dementia care. Staff perceptions
1College of Nursing, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
The Journal of Nursing Administration
|May 28, 1998
Summary
Long-term care employees identified teamwork, administrative support, and personal traits like kindness as key to improving dementia care. Leadership qualities such as communication and empowerment are crucial for sustained positive change.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Healthcare Management
- Organizational Psychology
Background:
- Improving dementia care in long-term facilities is challenging.
- Employee perspectives are vital for successful change initiatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors facilitating positive changes in dementia care.
- To understand the perceptions of long-term care employees regarding dementia care improvement.
Main Methods:
- Descriptive study using q-sort methodology.
- 181 long-term care employees participated.
- Data analyzed using rankings and Spearman's rho correlation.
Main Results:
- Key facility factors: teamwork, administrative support, staff attitude, knowledge.
- Significant gap between ideal and actual facility factors.
- Key personal factors: liking patients, flexibility, kindness, calmness, positive attitude.
- Higher correlation between ideal and actual personal factors compared to facility factors.
Conclusions:
- Effective leadership (communication, involvement, empowerment) is essential for dementia care improvement.
- These leadership principles are foundational for achieving and sustaining positive change.