Person-centered care improves resident satisfaction

The crux of modern post-acute and long-term care—person-centered care (PCC)—has been touted as good for residents. New evidence supports the movement.

Facilities that applied PCC practices reported greater resident satisfaction, according to a study in The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (JAMDA).

Those findings are consistent with other studies that have found higher quality of life and quality of care in nursing homes that have embraced person centered care. The authors write, “Residents in homes that had fully implemented PCC also reported being satisfied with the choices available to them, the respect shown to them, their privacy needs being met and staff knowing their preferences.”

Researchers studied 320 Kansas nursing homes and compared resident satisfaction in those participating in a program to promote PCC called Promoting Excellent Alternatives in Kansas (PEAK 2.0) with those that not. Nearly 12,000 nursing home residents completed face-to-face interviews between 2013 and 2015.

Overall satisfaction scores were higher among residents in the PEAK 2.0 facilities. Researchers determined the scores using the Resident Satisfaction Survey for Kansas, which focuses on quality of life, quality of care, quality of service and global satisfaction.

Staff impact resident satisfaction, and the researchers emphasized the importance of training and equipping staff with the skills and tools to meet residents’ needs. 

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.