Index

Culture Change

A nursing home is a place residents call "home."  A place where someone lives and calls home should nurture the human spirit as well as meet medical needs.  Culture Change is a movement that seeks to create an environment for residents which follows the residents' routines rather than those imposed by the facility; encourages appropriate assignments of staff with a team focus to make deep culture change possible; allows residents to make their own decisions; allows spontaneous activity opportunities; and encourages and allows residents to be treated as individuals. Deep culture change is an important component of the right of residents to “care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well being;” as promised in the 1987 Nursing Home Reform Law. It is the role of the Ombudsman to advocate for residents and their right to make choices to direct their care and life in long-term care facilities. Below are documents and resources that may help ombudsmen in their work to achieve resident-directed care.

News

Culture Change News:

    Brings you highlights of activities around the country that promote Culture

    Change and may involve the ombudsman program. Also included are items

    of interest regarding facilities that are implementing Culture Change.

Training

The 2006 State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Spring Training Conference included a session titled, Person Directed Care or Culture Change: Where's the Action? Materials from that session are included here:

          Handouts:

                   ●  South Dakota Culture Change Coalition - mission statement

                       and stakeholders list

                   ●  Virginia Culture Change Coalition - priorities, challenges and

                       proposed action steps; "Lighting the Flame" workshop brochure

           Presentations: (ppt - you will need PowerPoint to open these files)

                   ●  Quality Partners of Rhode Island - coordinated a 2004-2005

                       CMS pilot of QIO work in nursing homes. Individualized Care: The

                       Key to Quality and Retention

                   ●  Quality Improvement Organizations: 8th Scope of Work

                        Transforming Nursing Home Quality

            Training Materials:  TX Omb Training Manual: Module 6 - Advocacy from

            Individual Complaint to Culture Change

                    ●  Trainer's Notes

                    ●  Student Material

                    ●  Powerpoint

Best Practices

"Best Practices" are developed for sharing ideas in various categories among ombudsman programs.  They are informal documents that are program based not research based. Those listed below fall into the program management category.

        ●  The Following Best Practices were submitted for the 2006 State

            Long-Term Care Ombudsman Spring Training Conference and

            appear in the Conference notebook.

            April 2006 (posted June 2006)

        ●  Ombudsman Program Support for Culture Change,

            Colorado

        ●  Training to Implement Culture Change, Maryland

        ●  Strategic Conference on Culture Change with partner

            agencies, Virginia

Resources

NCCNHR - In 2004, NCCNHR members approved a resolution in support of Culture Change, Require the Principles and Values of Deep Culture Change in All Long Term Care Settings.  The NCCNHR website hosts a special page providing links to consumer fact sheets, other resources, organizations, and activities centered around Culture Change.

          Changing the Nursing Home Culture. (March 2008). Alliance for

                  Health Reform Culture Change Issue Brief.

          NCCNHR Culture Change website with information and resources

          Culture Change Now - books, newsletters, training and other resources

           at Culture Change Now.

Pioneer Network   
A grassroots movement to transform the culture of aging in America. The movement is called culture change, the transformation of traditional institutions and practices into communities in which each person's capacities and individuality are affirmed and developed.  To learn more about the Pioneer Network and the 2008 Conference, visit their website at: www.pioneernetwork.net.