Developing Best Practice Guidelines to Support the Person Moving to a Care Home
Developing Best Practice Guidelines to support a person moving to a care home.
Developing Best Practice Guidelines to support a person moving to a care home
The aim of this Quality Improvement (QI) initiative was to develop Best Practice Guidelines to support care home staff in facilitating the best possible transition experience for the person moving to a care home and to ensure the appropriate support for their families/representatives.
These guidelines were co-produced with over fifty care home leaders who participated in the QI initiative on transitions across Year 4 (2023-2024) and Year 5 (2024-2025) of the programme, and with the residents, families and staff in their care homes. The work builds on Dr Marie O’Neill’s extensive research into transitions along with her guidance in helping to translate the research into best practice. The guidelines are structured around the following four key recommendations that originated from this research:
1. Decision-making and Management of the Move
2. Psychological Support
3. Social Support
4. Maintaining Independence
Participants undertaking the QI initiative this year (Year 5), refined and tested the guidelines in their own care settings to gain consensus. This work yielded rich feedback that helped to confirm the key enabling factors that need to be put in place to support the person and their family with the move to the care home. A recurring theme was the importance of establishing an emotional connection and providing psychological support to new residents and their relatives. The outcome was that residents felt understood and valued by staff which created a bond and helped ease their transition.
Following recent ethical approval, a research study aligned to this QI initiative and led by Dr Marie O’Neill, will be undertaken in the participants’ care settings. The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of the co-produced Best Practice Guidelines on residents' and families' experience of moving to a care home.
Developing Best Practice Guidelines for People Moving to a Care Home