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The impact of organisational culture on the delivery of person‐centred care in services providing respite care and short breaks for people with dementia
Author(s) -
Kirkley Catherine,
Bamford Claire,
Poole Marie,
Arksey Hilary,
Hughes Julian,
Bond John
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
health and social care in the community
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.984
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1365-2524
pISSN - 0966-0410
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2524.2011.00998.x
Subject(s) - respite care , thematic analysis , nursing , dementia , service delivery framework , focus group , health care , organizational culture , service (business) , psychology , qualitative research , medicine , public relations , sociology , political science , business , social science , disease , pathology , marketing , anthropology , law
Ensuring the development and delivery of person‐centred care in services providing respite care and short breaks for people with dementia and their carers has a number of challenges for health and social service providers. This article explores the role of organisational culture in barriers and facilitators to person‐centred dementia care. As part of a mixed‐methods study of respite care and short breaks for people with dementia and their carers, 49 telephone semi‐structured interviews, two focus groups ( N = 16) and five face‐to‐face in‐depth interviews involving front‐line staff and operational and strategic managers were completed in 2006–2007. Qualitative thematic analysis of transcripts identified five themes on aspects of organisational culture that are perceived to influence person‐centred care: understandings of person‐centred care, attitudes to service development, service priorities, valuing staff and solution‐focused approaches. Views of person‐centred care expressed by participants, although generally positive, highlight a range of understandings about person‐centred care. Some organisations describe their service as being person‐centred without the necessary cultural shift to make this a reality. Participants highlighted resource constraints and the knowledge, attitudes and personal qualities of staff as a barrier to implementing person‐centred care. Leadership style, the way that managers’ support and value staff and the management of risk were considered important influences. Person‐centred dementia care is strongly advocated by professional opinion leaders and is prescribed in policy documents. This analysis suggests that person‐centred dementia care is not strongly embedded in the organisational cultures of all local providers of respite‐care and short‐break services. Provider organisations should be encouraged further to develop a shared culture at all levels of the organisation to ensure person‐centred dementia care.