Developing Best Practice Guidelines to support a person moving to a care home Image

Developing Best Practice Guidelines to support a person moving to a care home

Developing Best Practice Guidelines to support the Person Moving to a Care Home

Primary Theme: Facilitating Transitions

Cohorts: Paraticipants from Cohorts 23-27 (2024/25)

Project Title

Developing Best Practice Guidelines to support the person moving to a care home.

Aim of Project

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.

Description of the Intervention

As part of the My Home Life NI Quality Improvement programme, participants undertook a collaborative initiative to develop Best Practice Guidelines for supporting people moving into a care home. The initiative was driven by a recognition that transition into long-term care is a significant life event that can have profound emotional, psychological and social implications for residents and their families.

The work involved more than fifty care home leaders who participated in the Transitions Quality Improvement initiative across (2023-2024)  (2024-2025) of the programme. The guidelines were co-produced with residents, relatives and staff, ensuring that lived experience informed their development and relevance to practice. The initiative built upon the extensive transition research of Dr Marie O’Neill, which provided an evidence base for understanding the factors that contribute to positive adjustment following admission to a care home.

The resulting guidelines were structured around four key areas identified through research and practice:

  1. Decision-making and management of the move.
  2. Psychological support.
  3. Social support.
  4. Maintaining independence

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

Changes Implemented

Participants tested and refined the Best Practice Guidelines within their own care settings to establish consensus regarding the most effective approaches to supporting residents and families during transitions. Feedback was gathered from staff, residents and relatives to ensure the guidelines reflected the realities of day-to-day practice and addressed areas of greatest importance.

Throughout the testing process, care home leaders implemented approaches that strengthened emotional support, promoted relationship-building and enhanced communication during the admission and settling-in period. Particular attention was given to ensuring residents and their families felt actively supported in decision-making and included in conversations about care and adjustment.

The improvement work identified key enabling factors that help facilitate successful transitions and highlighted approaches that could be embedded into routine practice across care settings.

Evidence of Impact/Outcomes

Development of a co-produced, evidence-informed set of Best Practice Guidelines

Evaluation of the testing phase generated rich feedback which confirmed the importance of relationship-centred approaches to supporting transitions into care homes. A recurring finding was the critical role of emotional connection and psychological support for both residents and their relatives.

Key outcomes included:

  • Greater understanding of the support needed by residents and families during transitions.
  • Increased focus on psychological, social and emotional support as core components of transition planning.
  • Residents reporting feeling understood, valued and supported by staff, helping to ease adjustment to care home living.
  • Strengthened relationships between residents, families and care home staff.

This initiative demonstrated the value of combining research evidence, lived experience and quality improvement methodology to create a practical framework for supporting people moving into a care home. The resulting Best Practice Guidelines provide an evidence-informed resource to help care homes deliver consistent, compassionate and person-centred transition experiences for residents and their families.

Sustainability and Spread / Future Development

Following ethical approval, a research study led by Dr Marie O’Neill will be undertaken within participating care settings to evaluate the impact of the co-produced Best Practice Guidelines on residents' and families' experiences of moving to a care home.

Developing Best Practice Guidelines for People Moving to a Care Home