Client Care and Service

All staff are complimented on their commitment to providing resident-focused care and service. Residents and their families express a high degree of satisfaction with the care. Residents and family members feel free to discuss issues and concerns, and state that they receive courteous and satisfactory responses and support from staff. An important indicator of this satisfaction is the very lengthy waiting list for admission to this home.

Good liaison is maintained with the placement agency and appropriate screening is done by the relevant team prior to admission, to ensure client needs can be  met by the organization. It is noteworthy that staff learning needs, relative to new or unusual resident care needs, are identified and addressed prior to, or soon after, admission.

Initial and ongoing assessment and care-planning processes are comprehensive. Input is obtained from all team members, as well  as resident and/or family. It is noteworthy that each new resident receives a mobility assessment from the physiotherapist. In addition, a nutritional risk profile is developed.

Resident choice is evident. There is an impressive number and variety of social, recreational, and therapeutic programs that reflect the wide variety of resident needs.

Care and service delivery is enhanced by a group of carefully selected and trained volunteers. It is suggested that consideration be given to attaching selected volunteers directly to the care teams. This could further enhance their effectiveness.

Staff provide sensitive care and support to families and residents who are faced with terminal illness. Staff training and approaches to providing palliative care are noted favorably. It is particularly noteworthy that pain is assessed at each care conference.

Memorial services and other gestures provide important support to residents, families and staff, as well as opportunities to express and deal with their individual and collective grief. In addition, strong informal support networks are in place.

The documentation of resident progress is comprehensive and generally relates well to identified problems and the effectiveness of care interventions. The recent introduction of focus charting is an important step to further the effectiveness of progress documentation and the measurement of care outcomes. This approach will also support plans to introduce computerized documentation when a suitable software program is found.

It is noteworthy that both of the teams interviewed are assuming increasing accountability for the quality of care and service for their respective clients. Several routine indicators are being tracked regularly. There is a need for all  teams to identify, monitor and evaluate additional indicators related to key processes and outcomes of resident care and service, and to evaluate the effectiveness and processes and programs.

From the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation Report for Inglewood Care Centre