Staff Engagement for Practice Change in Long-Term Care: Evaluating the Feasible and Sustainable Culture Change Initiative (FASCCI) Model

Abstract

<strong>Context:</strong> Interventions aimed at increasing the provision of person-centred care in long-term care (LTC) homes, that do not address contextual and system issues, most often fail. Promoting positive change in LTC homes requires requires a multilevel, systems approach. <strong>Objectives:</strong> Evaluate the effectiveness of the Feasible and Sustainable Culture Change Initiative (FASCCI) model for improving the provision of person-centred mealtime practices in a LTC home. <strong>Methods:</strong> A single-group, time series design was used to assess the impact of the FASCCI model for change on outcome measures across four time periods (pre-intervention, 2-month, 4-month and 6-month follow-up). Differences in scores from baseline were assessed utilizing Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Interviews (n = 21) were also conducted to examine treatment fidelity and to ascertain the study participants’ perceptions of the process for making improvements using the FASCCI model. <strong>Findings:</strong> We observed increases in care staff’s capacity to consistently provide relational and person-centred care during mealtimes. Mealtime environment scores started increasing immediately following the intervention, with statistically significant improvements in all mealtime environment scales by six-months, including: the physical environment (W = 55.00, p = 0.008); social environment (W = 55.00, p = 0.008); relationship-centred care (W = 45.00, p = 0.014); and overall quality of dining environment (W = 55.00, p = 0.010). Analysis of data from qualitative interviews demonstrated that use of the FASCCI model resulted in improved team leadership, communication, and collaborative decision-making. <strong>Limitations:</strong> Generalizability is limited due to the small sample size and use of convenience sampling methods. <strong>Implications:</strong> Outcomes indicate that the FASCCI model seems promising in its ability to improve PCC mealtime practices in LTC homes and is worthy of a larger scale study. The results further demonstrate the value of supportive team environments in quality dementia care.