View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

2.3 Residential Care
40
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This section is about residential care. The focus of this research is autonomy for
older people in residential care; it is therefore important to review the literature about
residential care. The literature revealed that many studies have been conducted in
residential care units for older people. Some of these studies examined the
organisations’ approach to care including the institutional philosophy, the leadership
and the impact of task-based approaches to care (Walsh and Waldman, 2008;
Forbes-Thompson and Gessert, 2005; Swagerty, Lee and Smith, 2005). Some
explored perceptions of residential care including staff perceptions (Murphy, 2007;
Redfern et al., 2002; Ryan and Scullion, 2000), resident perceptions (Cooney,
Murphy and O’Shea, 2009; Boyle, 2004; Higgs et al., 1998) and families’
perceptions (Ryan and Scullion, 2000). One study examined the role of nurse
specialism in gerontological/residential care (Hunter and Levett-Jones, 2010) and
several researchers connected healthcare professionals’ level of knowledge about
ageing to their attitudes towards older people (Mandy, Lucas and Hodgson, 2007;
Wells et al., 2004; Wade, 1999). A number of studies investigated quality of life and
quality of care in residential care for older people (Dwyer, Nordenfeldt and
Ternestedt, 2008; Murphy, 2006; Pearson et al., 1993). Resident autonomy was
identified as being an integral ingredient in person-centred care and ultimately in
achieving quality of life. Several papers discussed the benefits of delivering person-
centred care in residential care for older people (Manley and McCormack, 2008;
McCormack, 2004, 2001) and provided frameworks for operationalising it (Manley
and McCormack, 2008; McCormack and McCance, 2006; Nolan et al., 2004;
McCormack, 2001; Ford and McCormack, 2000;Titchen, 2000). However, Hunter
and Levett-Jones (2010) suggested that delivering person-centred care remains a
challenge for nurses working in residential care. Many researchers suggested that life
plans are essential for knowing the person in person-centred care-provision, and for
the realisation of autonomy for older people in residential care (Tutton, 2005; Lidz,
Fischer and Arnold, 1992; Agich, 1990; Meyers, 1989).
2.3.1 Organisational Approach to Residential Care
The organisation’s approach to residential care for older people has been discussed
in the literature for many years and some of the first discussions appeared in the