Making the most of time: A Grounded Theory to explain what facilitates nursing home staff to connect with residents living with advanced dementia

Background: People living with advanced dementia in nursing homes often spend the majority of time alone, with little contact with anyone. The need to connect with others is a central part of a philosophy known as Person Centred Dementia Care. A significant body of literature demonstrates the effectiveness of a range of approaches that facilitate connections, yet, we know little about staff perspectives on what facilitates them to connect on a daily basis. Aim: To develop a Grounded Theory to explain what facilitates nursing home staff to connect with residents living with advanced dementia. Methods: Semi structured interviews were conducted with nursing home staff (n=21) and relatives (n=5) from seven nursing homes. Following Strauss and Corbin’s (1990, 1998) Interpretivist Grounded Theory methodology, data collection and analysis proceeded iteratively, and theoretical sampling was used to develop the emergent theory. Results: The Grounded Theory ‘making the most of time’ explains that most connections occurred during personal care. Interdependent contextual and individual factors facilitated staff to make the most of time. Effective leaders were described to create a caring culture in which informal leaders (experienced staff) acted as role models. Staff were then more likely to understand, accept and tolerate dementia, know connections were part of their role, get to know residents and express caring values. In the right physical environment, this then facilitated staff to make the most of time during personal care. Increased training and education from specialised dementia units and experiential knowledge from family engagement then supplement such contexts. Implications: Future research could empirically test the theory ‘making the most of time’

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Bradford

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Haunch, Kirsty J.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Downs, Murna G.
• Oyebode, Jan

• Advanced dementia
• Care homes
• Nursing homes
• Social isolation
• Connecting
• Interacting
• Social exclusion
• Staff
• Nurses
• Care assistants

Statement dc:rights

• <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10454/18670

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18670