Oct. 11, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contacts: Lauren Shaham, 202-508-1219
Linda Barbarotta, 202-508-1209

New Findings Help Long-Term Care Providers Better Support Their Workforce

Washington, D.C. – Better Jobs Better Care (BJBC) released findings from two research studies that can help long-term care providers better support their workforce and improve resident quality of care.

The first study, led by Boston University, looked at how well nursing home managers and direct care workers honor cultural differences among staff and how that affects job satisfaction. The second study, led by Brandeis University, explored how the management philosophies and practices of long-term care supervisors affect frontline worker satisfaction.

“How supervisors in long-term care view, support and respect direct care workers has a significant impact on how committed the workers are to their job and the care they provide,” said Robyn Stone, Dr.P.H., BJBC program director, executive director of the Institute for the Future of Aging Services and the senior vice president for research at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. “This research shows how important the supervisory relationship is to improving quality of care.” BJBC is a $15.5 million research and demonstration program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies.

Here are the studies’ key findings:

Organizational Cultural Competence in Long-Term Care – Boston University

Victoria Parker, D.B.A, from Boston University, led her research team in surveying the direct care worker and supervisor perceptions of the levels of cultural competence and job satisfaction in 10 eastern Massachusetts nursing homes. Trainings were developed and provided to the sites to address any challenges they faced.

Key findings:

Cultural competence goes beyond language. It includes non-verbal communication, food, music, religious practices and end-of-life customs. These aspects of care deserve greater emphasis than they currently receive.

Cultural competence is also a factor in the extent to which workers feel respected and valued in the workplace, and whether or not they feel welcome to stay. Practicing culturally competent attitudes and behaviors with co-workers helps develop them further for interactions with residents and their family members.

Managers and frontline workers have significantly different perceptions of the cultural competence of a facility. Managers were more likely than direct care workers to believe they were empowered to act to address gaps in cultural competence.

The site-specific trainings and workshops significantly improved the perception of cultural competency among workers.

The Effect of Leadership, Relationships and Work Design on Long-Term Care Residents and Workers – Brandeis University

A team combining researchers from Brandeis University, Boston College and Queens College interviewed nursing home administrators and staff and surveyed certified nursing assistants (CNAs), nurse supervisors and residents in 15 Massachusetts nursing homes, identified by experts as good-quality facilities, to find out how the supervisors’ management philosophy and practices supported the CNAs’ jobs and the care they provided.

Key findings:

The leadership approach of frontline nursing supervisors has a critical impact on nursing assistants’ job satisfaction, and may not reflect top administrators’ management philosophy.

Most CNAs are devoted to the residents they care for, but do not always feel respected by supervisors, family members or administrators.

When nursing supervisors value CNAs’ knowledge about residents, that knowledge is more available to improve quality of care to residents.

When nursing supervisors do not trust CNAs to do a good job, CNAs find it difficult to give good care.

When nursing supervisors develop good supervisory relationships with frontline staff and value their knowledge, these workers are more committed to their jobs.

CNAs’ commitment to their jobs is greater where staffing is higher and where CNAs view their pay and benefits as good.

Where CNAs are more committed to their jobs, residents report better relationships with their caregivers.

The findings suggest that turnover costs would fall and residents would benefit from increased staffing, better pay and benefits for CNAs and more support for good nursing supervision, including supervisory training for licensed nurses.

For more information about these research studies or about Better Jobs Better Care, please visit www.bjbc.org.


Better Jobs Better Care is a four-year, $15.5 million research and demonstration program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies. Its goal is to achieve changes in long-term care policy and practice that help reduce high vacancy and turnover rates among direct care workers in long-term care and contribute to improved workforce quality. Technical assistance is provided in partnership with the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI).

Better Jobs Better Care is directed and managed by the Institute for the Future of Aging Services (IFAS), American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA). For more information about Better Jobs Better Care, contact Robyn Stone at (202) 508-1206, or visit www.bjbc.org.