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

The implementation of a model of person-centred practice in older person settings
THE MID WEST AREA
Participating Sites
Three sites in the HSE West, Mid West area took part in the national practice
development programme - Community Hospital of the Assumption, Thurles;
Cappahard Lodge Residential Unit of Old Age Psychiatry, Ennis; and Carrigoran
House Nursing Home. These sites had already completed one year of a practice
development programme to introduce person-centred care before joining the national
programme. This programme was led by Jan Dewing and Lorna Peelo-Kilroe, thus
merging it into the national programme was relatively uncomplicated. All three sites
provide residential care for older persons in different settings - a mental health unit, a
general residential hospital and a voluntary nursing home. All three sites had their
own challenges with the programme both from within the group, the workplace and
the organisation but all three continued with the programme until it finished. Many
practices have changed in all three sites and routines altered or disbanded because
they are no longer justifiable in terms of good practice. It is possible to list many
developments and changes that have taken place during the course of this PD
programme relating to meals and mealtimes, changes to the physical environment,
changing work practices that are more in line with international thinking and evidence
based. However the most significant changes are in work practices and the values
and beliefs that staff hold about their care, in other words the cultures and contexts of
care. This report will focus on these developments which are seen by the facilitators
in this area as having the most significant impact on personal and practice
development and ultimately on the care experiences by service users. Brief
examples from the practice area will be used to support these developments mainly
as a means of inspiring and informing other sites not currently involved in a similar
programme.
Active Learning
In the final year of the programme in the Mid West all three sites focused on
developing capacity within their settings. The realisation grew within the PD groups
that changing a culture requires the involvement of everyone. This necessitated a
shift in priorities for the groups to becoming more inclusive with their colleagues and
the organisational structures they had to work in. With this insight, came further
understanding that the level of engagement with colleagues and ultimately the
amount of impact that the programme would have in their sites depended on their
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