Learning climate in long‐term care facilities for people with dementia

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundTo allow learning processes within an organization, the presence of a facilitating and safe "learning climate" is of utmost importance. We studied which preconditions contribute to a facilitating and safe learning climate in long‐term care facilities for people with dementia. Furthermore, we studied the effect of a facilitating and safe learning climate on job satisfaction, person‐centred care and emotional exhaustion experienced by care staff.MethodData were collected among long‐term care facilities which participated in the fifth round of the Dutch Living Arrangements for people with Dementia (LAD)‐study. Care staff, supervisors and practitioners completed an online questionnaire which included two subscales of the Learning Climate Scale (facilitation and safety) and four subscales of the Learning Potential of the Workplace Scale (learning through reflection; through experimentation; from colleagues; from supervisor). We performed hierarchical linear modelling.ResultParticipants from 58 long‐term care facilities completed the questionnaire. Preconditions that significantly contribute to a facilitating learning climate include development opportunities, successful leadership characteristics, and small care teams. Preconditions that significantly contribute to a safe learning climate include social support from colleagues and supervisors, a high degree of emotional support, and being part of a self‐steering team. Both a more facilitating learning climate and a safer learning climate contribute to more job satisfaction, person‐centred care, and less emotional exhaustion experienced by care staff. Studying different ways of learning, we found that learning through reflection and learning from colleagues and supervisors contribute to more job satisfaction and person‐centred care, while learning through experimentation and learning from colleagues is associated with less emotional exhaustion.ConclusionA facilitating and safe learning climate has several positive effects on care staff and person‐centred care. Therefore, long‐term care organizations should offer sufficient development opportunities and training. Furthermore, this study provides insight in how organizations can learn. Care staff should be given the opportunity to discuss their mistakes without being ashamed, in order to allow further development.