Working to Change the Culture of Long Term Care in Florida
Our Vision
Person-centered environments that support elders and those
closest to them through a culture that is life-affirming, satisfying, humane
and meaningful.
Our Mission The mission of the Florida Pioneer Network (FPN) is to
improve the quality of life and work in elder care settings in Florida.
Our Goals Encourage
and support people and organizations interested in beginning or continuing
their culture change journey.Offer
education about culture change philosophy and practices.Support
sharing of culture change practices among organizations.Educate
local and state officials, regulators, surveyors, ombudsmen and the general
public about culture change.
Definition of
Culture Change
Culture change means the transformation of nursing homes and
other elder care settings from institutions to real homes for elders. It is
about improving the quality of life for residents and the quality of work life
for staff. This is accomplished by elder care settings by:
Creating home for residents – not only modifying
the environment to create home but residents having more control over their
daily lives. This may include deciding when to wake up in the morning, when to
eat breakfast and other meals, when and how to shower or bathe and when to go
to sleep. Also, in terms of daily activities, the staff of these homes ask the question: “what would the resident do if he or she was living in their own home
in the community”? And then, “how can we make it happen for and with the
resident in the nursing home?”
Implementing consistent assignments so that the
residents, staff and families can really get to know each other and develop
mutually respectful, close relationships;
Organizing the work to support and empower all staff to respond to residents’ needs and desires;
Management empowering staff and residents to make decisions;
Making continuous quality improvement an integral part of the culture of the home.
In Florida, this work is currently being done in traditional nursing home environments by transforming wings and long hallways into neighborhoods with the ultimate goal that when it is time to renovate or build new, these organizations will build one of the new models of nursing home which are smaller environments that are truly not home-like but home to the people that live there.
For more information, contact Director Laura Capp at 407-514-1818. We are looking forward to hearing from you. You can also contact us at our e-mail address: FPN.
