Care and Construction: Assessing Differences in Nursing Home Models of Care on Resident Quality of Life

A team of researchers and nursing home representatives are working together to learn about the differences that different physical designs and staffing approaches in nursing homes may have on their resident quality of life. Across Canada, long term care providers, funded both publicly and privately, are struggling to meet the care needs of an aging population while operating with aging buildings and staffing challenges. At the same time, many are working to transform their environments, practices and policies to focus on the resident. Nova Scotia is implementing a 10-year continuing care strategy that includes increasing bed capacity, building new facilities that feature a series of small, home like neighborhoods, and adopting changes in approach to staffing. These changes have implications not only for the resident, but also for their family and the staff. How will changes in approach to care and nursing home design impact residents and their quality of life? This three-year project will use multiple research methods to address this question, for the first time, from three important perspectives - the resident, the family, and the staff - as all three are important to understanding and advancing resident-centered care in nursing homes. Key to the success of the project is the opportunity afforded to participants and knowledge users to provide input and/or validation of research results. The knowledge generated by the project will guide seniors, families, and service providers, in Nova Scotia and beyond, who strive to improve our capacity to provide high quality long term care.