Michigan moves forward with culture change

Michigan has made a commitment to culture change. Using civil monetary penalty funds, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) funded One Vision: Moving Forward, a project that brings together stakeholders to address a wide array of challenges and obstacles to delivering person-centered care. PHI serves as the convener for this multi-stakeholder group that includes resident advocates, provider associations, government agencies, culture change advocates and employee organizations. All of the participants have agreed to work together—using a consensus framework—to advance the goals of the project.

Sometimes challenging relationships make it difficult for the state’s stakeholders to consistently overcome obstacles to person-centered care. One Vision is committed to overcoming these obstacles in order to ensure statewide a wide range of person-centered practices and experiences.

Among the resources created by One Vision are  “clarifications” that  answer questions related to regulatory policies and facility operational practices as they relate to specific areas of concern—for example, sharing of food that comes from a garden or potluck, not from the kitchen; or the refusal of residents to use mattress pads.

One Vision is also attempting to help providers collect better data in order to evaluate the “person-centeredness” of their organizations. In an exciting development, One Vision partnered with My Innerview to revise resident, family and staff surveys to capture the person-centered essence of a nursing home’s operation. The survey questions have been validated by the My InnerView research team and are available to homes at no additional cost and without impacting the ability of nursing homes to compare results nationally.

Sandy Place, who is representing the Michigan Alliance for Person-Centered Communities, said, “I feel that One Vision: Moving Forward paved the way for a more sensitive resident and staff satisfaction survey. Having this type of solid data makes provision of the kind of care our elders want easier.”

One Vision’s ultimate goal is to improve the likelihood of holistic, person-centered care delivery for Michigan’s nursing home residents.

NADONA-Mich. representative Shari Carson says, “One Vision has helped us to remember who is the most important member of the team, the resident.” 

Carson notes that in the past, “decisions were made based on what we all thought was best for the resident. We all want a home, but that home may be different for each of us. This process has supported individuality while allowing us to meet the regulations.”

Ultimately, in service to residents, One Vision supports a collaborative spirit and encourages the growth of trust. As a result, Michigan’s stakeholders have a deeper awareness of what person-centered care really means and how to focus on how to make that vision a reality.

Cean Eppelheimer is the PHI Midwest Organizational Change Consultant. She is co-facilitator of  One Vision: Moving Forward. Contact her at ceppelheimer@phinational.org.   


Topics: Articles , Facility management , Leadership