Search results

The purpose of this paper is to review some research on the environmental characteristics of residential care settings.

The paper's approach is an integrative overview and formulation of a conceptual framework to understand and measure the key environmental domains of residential care programs.

The five major domains that comprise the characteristics of residential program are the institutional context, physical and architectural features, policies and services, aggregate resident and staff characteristics, and the social climate. The multiphasic environmental assessment procedure (MEAP), which systematically assesses these domains, shows that, for example, programs with better physical features tend to have better policy and program characteristics, more functionally able residents, more varied and experienced staff, and a more cohesive social climate.

The conceptual framework and assessment procedures can be used to provide useful information to help prospective residents and staff select appropriate residential care settings, to identify characteristics of settings most amenable to change, decide what changes would benefit residents and staff, and, by providing systematic feedback, help guide program improvement; and identify environmental features most closely associated with residents' quality of life and functional maintenance or improvement.

The paper presents a unique and innovative conceptualization of the environmental domains of residential care settings, along with a validated procedure to measure these domains.

Children who enter the care system in England and Wales are among some of the most vulnerable children in society, often presenting with high levels of need. Ensuring that the children's workforce has the skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of caring for this group of children has been at the forefront of policy agendas over the past two decades. This paper aims to report on an educational initiative to develop the capacity of residential childcare staff to work therapeutically with children.

The paper describes the origins and nature of the Foundation Degree in Therapeutic Childcare and documents the reflections of tutors responsible for delivering the programme on their experiences. Comments from a small student sample are included to highlight the student perspective in studying for the Foundation Degree.

The paper concludes that while some barriers exist in delivering the Foundation Degree to residential child care workers, programmes designed to develop knowledge and understanding of working therapeutically with children should be promoted.

The paper highlights some of the issues and challenges associated with educating the children's workforce and reports back on one of the first Foundation Degrees in the UK focusing on residential and foster care workers.

Southern Ireland faces similar challenges to the rest of Europe in that it has a rapidly increasing older population, seemingly infinite demand for health and social care and growing financial pressures. Against such a background, there are concerns about the quality of care provided for frail older people, especially in long‐term care settings. This paper considers some recent policy development in Ireland, with a particular focus on long‐term care. It describes the response to a series of inquiries about the quality of care in such environments and the subsequent formation of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). HIQA has just introduced a series of new inspections standards, and these are presented in the article. However, whilst these standards are to be welcomed, it is argued that standards alone will not result in improved quality unless there is also a recognition of the role and value of long‐term care as a positive care environment for older people.

The purpose of this study is to find out what knowledge and experience of occupational therapists, personal assistants and public health nurses/nurses in Sweden can contribute concerning the vulnerability of residents to injury in different residential care-settings.

This study is based on an online survey. A total of 832 individuals responded to the survey. The data were analyzed from a mixed-method approach, using descriptive statistics, correlations and textual-analysis.

More than one in four representatives of these professions had witnessed accidents. The results show that bedrooms and bathrooms are the rooms in which accidents are most likely to occur in homes.

One limitation of the study is that the impact of educational initiatives on the different professions was not investigated, so it is not possible to ascertain what effect this may have had on risk identification and accident prevention measures in residential care-settings.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study of these issues has been conducted. This study is deemed to have significant social benefit because of the steadily increasing need for care in residential settings. No other study has addressed the importance of the physical environment in this context. Collaborations involving researchers from various disciplines, professional organizations and public and private sector employers involved in personal assistance have contributed specific knowledge.

The independence and well-being of people with dementia can be significantly influenced by the design of the physical environments around them. Several assessment tools exist to evaluate the dementia design quality of existing residential aged care facilities but, to date, none have been formally identified as suitable for use during the design process. This paper aims to examine the feasibility of re-purposing existing post-occupancy tools for use during the design process, while mapping the influence of design stages on resulting dementia design quality.

Literature searches identified audit tools for residential aged care settings. After reliability screening, three tools were analysed in-depth, mapping their suitability for use during the design process.

The study confirmed that existing tools can be re-purposed for design stage use and identified that early design stages have a larger influence on overall dementia design quality than previously thought.

Non-English language publications were not reviewed. Searches may not have identified other existing audit tools for residential care environments.

The ability to assess proposals at key stages of design may help improve the dementia design quality of future residential aged care environments – potentially enhancing the lives of ever-larger numbers of people with dementia.

According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known paper to consider formal design-stage evaluation of dementia design quality and the first to identify the relative influence of key stages of design on the resulting dementia design quality.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of staff towards psychotropic Pro Re Nata (PRN) medication in a residential care setting.

Three male and seven female participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.

Four themes pertaining to PRN medication emerged from the data: behaviour change, calming effect, importance of timing and perceived uniqueness.

The participant group was not homogenous and findings may have been different in a more qualified cohort. This care setting may not be representative of other environments where PRN medication is administered. The findings do, however, highlight some of the challenges facing the administration of PRN medication in mental health and care settings.

The awareness of these themes is significant for improving staff knowledge, training practices and policies towards the use and administration of psychotropic PRN medication.

This is the first study to engage in a thematic analysis of staff views towards the administration of PRN medication.

There is often a focus on the negative aspects of residential care for older people. In the UK, there has been increasing media attention on abuse in these and other care settings and this has impacted upon public perceptions and subsequent government policy. Consequently, care staff are “tarred with the same brush”, yet narratives of their views have rarely been investigated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This undergraduate, qualitative, single-case study aimed to investigate the views of staff and explore the implications for them and their practice. The views of 15 participants in a residential care home were obtained through interviews and a focus group.

Although the findings reveal sensitivities to the negative portrayal of care roles, they also reveal positive responses through a willingness to change practice, a strengthening of care values and a reduction in risks.

This study will be of interest to those multi-disciplinary residential teams who care for older people as it uncovers a striking sense of guardianship amongst residential care staff, and a willingness to reflect on, and change, practice. The study endorses the value of small practitioner-led research as an illustration of how a residential care team consisting of managers and staff can strengthen its resolve against adverse media coverage and negative public perceptions. This study suggests that this will have positive implications for the health and safety of older people living in residential settings.

Elder Abuse Response is a UK adult protection helpline for older people which provides a valuable opportunity for monitoring interest in and concerns regarding abuse of older people. This paper provides a descriptive analysis of 1,421 calls to the helpline between April 1997 and March 1999 alleging abuse. The analysis notes types of abuse, age and gender of the victim; gender and relationship of the alleged perpetrator to the victim; and where the abuse was said to have occurred. It discusses possible next steps within the UK for researchers, service planners and providers as a result of the findings in the context of government policy developments.