Assessing the quality of staff-family relationships in the Australian residential aged care setting: Development and evaluation of the Family and Staff Relationship Implementation Tool (FASRIT): a contribution to person-centered healthcare

Article Sidebar

Requires Subscription or Fee PDF (USD 25)
Published: Sep 11, 2012
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5750/ijpcm.v2i3.261
Keywords:
Measurement person-centered healthcare person-centeredness psychometric quality residential aged care staff-family relationships

Main Article Content

Michael Bauer
Senior Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care/Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh
Senior Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care/Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Virginia Lewis
Associate Professor, Centre for Health Systems Development /Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Rationale: Older people living in residential aged care facilities are known to experience better care outcomes when staff and family have a constructive relationship. However, to date, there has been no measure to allow facilities to appraise practice in this area.Aims and objectives: To develop and evaluate psychometrically a tool that enables residential aged care facilities in Australia to assess the quality of staff-family relationships and appraise current practice against what is known to be best practice as an index of person-centered care.Method: To develop and test the 25 item FASRIT tool occurred in three phases: item development based on a systematic review of the research literature, interviews with aged care staff and residents’ families and expert panel review of the tool items followed by initial and final testing of the psychometric properties of the tools with residential aged care staff and managers.Results: Content validity and internal consistency of the FASRAT (alpha coefficient = 0.94) support its use as an assessment of the quality of current staff-family relationships in the Australian residential aged care context. Tool items can also serve as 'probes’ to allow facilities to explore staffs’ views and practices.Conclusion: The FASRIT demonstrates good basic psychometric properties and use of the tool will support quality in residential aged care by enabling facilities to identify gaps which impact on the quality of staff-family relationships, identify areas where further education may be required and monitor facility practice over time. Further testing of the structure of the scales is required. The tool is advanced as an important index of the person-centeredness of clinical services.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 2 No. 3 (2012): September
Section
Health Profession Issues

References

Bauer M. (2006). Collaboration and control: Nurses' constructions of the role of family in nursing home care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 54 (1) 45-52.

Gaugler, J. & Kane, R. (2007). Families and Assisted Living. The Gerontologist 47 (Supplement 1) 83-99.

Gaugler, J. (2006). Family Involvement and Resident Psychosocial Status in Long-Term Care. Clinical Gerontologist 29 (4) 79-98.

Kemp, C.L., Ball, M.M., Perkins, M.M., Hollingsworth, C. & Lepore, M.J. (2009). "I Get Along With Most of Them": Direct Care Workers' Relationships With Residents' Families in Assisted Living. The Gerontologist 49 (2) 224-235.

Moyle, W., Skinner, J., Rowe, G. & Gork, C. (2003). Satisfaction and dissatisfaction in Australian long-term care. Journal of Clinical Nursing 12, 168-176.

Utley-Smith, Q., Colon-Emeric, C., Lekan-Rutledge, D., Ammarell, N., Bailey, D., Corazzini, K., Piven, M.L. & Anderson, R.A. (2009). Staff perceptions of staff-family interactions in nursing homes. Journal of Aging Studies 23 (3) 168-177.

Brown-Wilson, C., Davies, S. & Nolan, M.R. (2009). Developing relationships in care homes - the contribution of staff, residents and families. Ageing and Society 29, 1041-1063.

Bauer, M. & Nay, R. (2003). Family and staff partnerships in long term care: a review of the literature. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 29 (10) 46-53.

Legault, A. & Ducharme, F. (2009). Advocating for a Parent with Dementia in a Long-term Care Facility: The Process Experienced by Daughters. Journal of Family Nursing 15 (2) 198-219.

Haesler, E., Bauer, M. & Nay, R. (2010). Recent evidence on the development and maintenance of constructive staff-family relationships in the care of older people - A report on a systematic review update. International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare 8 (2) 45-74.

Anderson, K., Hobson, A., Steiner, P. & Rodel, B. (1992). Patients with dementia: Involving families to maximise nursing care. Journal of Gerontologial Nursing 18 (7) 19-25.

Maas, M., Reed, D., Park, M., Specht, J.P., Schutte, D., Kelley, L.S., Swanson, E.A., Trip-Reimer, T. & Buckwalte, K.C. (2004). Outcomes of family involvement in care intervention for caregivers of individuals with dementia. Nursing Research 53 (2) 76-86.

Pillemer, K., Hegeman, C.R., Albright, B., Henderson, C. & Morrow-Howell, N. (1998). Building bridges between families and nursing home staff: The partners in caregiving program. The Gerontologist 38 (4) 499-503.

Pillemer, K., Suitor, J., Henderson, C.J., Meador, R., Schultz, L., Robison, J. & Hegeman, C. (2003). A cooperative communication intervention for nursing home staff and family members of residents. The Gerontologist 43 (Special No 2) 96-106.

Robison, J., Curry, L., Gruman, C., Porter, M., Henderson, C. & Pillemer, K. (2007). Partners in caregiving in a special care environment: cooperative communication between staff and families on dementia units. The Gerontologist 47 (4) 504-515.

Specht, J.P., Kelley, L.S., Manion, P., Maas, M.L., Reed, D. & Rantz, M.J. (2000). Who's the boss? Family/staff partnership in care of persons with dementia. Nursing Administration Quarterly 24 (3) 64-77.

Tisher, T.B. (2009). Aged Care Residential Facility and Family Interface: A Training Program for Staff. Clinical Gerontologist 32 (3) 309-323.

Majerovitz, S., Mollott, R. & Rudder, C. (2009). We're on the same side: Improving communication between nursing home and family. Health Communication 24 (1) 12-20.

Chen, C., Sabir, M., Zimmerman, S., Suitor, J. & Pillemer, K. (2007). The importance of family relationships with nursing facility staff for family caregiver burden and depression. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences 62B (5) P253-260.

Abrahamson, K., Anderson, J.G., Anderson, M.M., Suitor, J. & Pillemer, K. (2010). The Cumulative

Influence of Conflict on Nursing Home Staff. Research in Gerontological Nursing 3 (1) 39-48.

Abrahamson, K., Jill Suitor, J. & Pillemer, K. (2009). Conflict Between Nursing Home Staff and

Residents’ Families. Journal of Aging and Health 21 (6) 895-912.

Haesler, E., Bauer, M. & Nay, R. (2006). Factors associated with constructive staff-family relationships in the care of older adults in the institutional setting. International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare 4 (4) 288-336.