The Implementation of a Model of Person-Centred Practice In Older ...

The implementation of a model of person-centred practice in older person settings
based design (especially for people with cognitive impairments), construction of a
roof top garden and redesign of garden spaces, organising family events and the
setting up of resident committees. The area reports offer a good insight into the
range and depth of changes that have taken place.
CONTRIBUTION TO PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT KNOWLEDGE
McCormack et al (2006) identified nine key issues that need to be addressed in order
for practice development to have a desired impact and these themes will now be
used to shape a discussion about the contribution of the programme to the
development of knowledge about practice development.
1. Decisions about practice development being uni or multidisciplinary should
reflect the overarching intent/desired outcomes of the development work
itself. Currently there is no evidence to suggest either one or the other
approach works better.
From the outset, there was an explicit multidisciplinary focus to this programme of
work. The ‘programme group’ in each participating site was comprised of a
representative group of staff from the roles within the hospital. It was particularly
exciting to have had the involvement and important contributions of cooks, cleaners,
administration, gardeners etc as the contribution they made were often seen as
‘crisis moments’ in the programme because they offered alternative views to those of
dominant perspectives, i.e. registered nurses:
“[Name] identified on the first Programme Day the lack of Catering Dept involvement
in patient care other than provision of food, and the fact that many in the catering
department could not identify a resident by their face- this brought about the ‘Face to
the Plate’ development where a photo of each resident was placed on their menu
sheet - I spoke to ward staff about this and told them that the catering staff would be
seen around the wards carrying out observations of practice, I asked them to
introduce the catering staff to residents and tell them a little about each person. I
further developed this new relationship by talking with the catering manager and the
DON to suggest other ways to involve catering in patient care. Now we have them
going on fortnightly outings with residents, sitting down with a cup of tea in the dining
room at breakfast time to talk with residents. One of them went on a trip to Lourdes
this year with 4 residents, they will be involved in selecting daily menu choices with
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