Resident experience of staff treating them with respect | HQCA Focus

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Designated Supported Living

Resident experience of staff treating them with respect

How residents rated whether staff treated them with respect, in a 2019 survey. (see data dictionary)

What do you think?

  • What does ‘treat you with respect’ mean to you? What does it mean to your residents? What does it mean to their family members or loved ones?
  • How are resident ratings about respect different from family ratings?
  • Why does the respectful treatment of a resident matter? What aspects of care might be impacted by this element of resident experience?

Understanding “resident experience of staff treating them with respect”

In a survey conducted in 2019, the HQCA asked residents living in designated supportive living:

Do the employees treat you with respect?

Residents could choose “Yes, always / Yes, sometimes / No, hardly ever / No, never”

When staff show they sincerely understand and value a resident’s feelings, wishes, rights, or abilities, this demonstrates respect. Resident overall experience of care and services is likely better if they feel they are treated with respect (National Centre for Biotechnology Information).

Considerations when viewing the results:

There are a number of factors providers and leaders can consider to better understand and improve resident experiences with respect. Before taking action, consider the following:

  • What expectations do residents have regarding respect? What might influence their perspective?
  • Who might the resident be thinking about when asked about staff or “employees”?
  • Cultural differences can sometimes influence experiences with courtesy and respect. How could cultural competency be strengthened within a site, organization, or across the healthcare system?
  • Which Supportive Living Accommodation Standard(s) does this question help inform, if any?
  • Which Continuing Care Health Service Standard(s) does this question help inform, if any?
  • Who should be involved in discussions to improve these results? How could residents and/or family members be engaged to develop solutions (e.g., engage the resident and family council)? What other collaboration might be required to make improvements in this area?
  • A site may only be directly accountable for one type of staff. For example, in designated supportive living, case management and sometimes nursing care are delivered by Alberta Health Services, while other services like care aides and housekeeping are managed by a housing provider or site operator. How can providers collaborate to improve this result?

For information about the HQCA’s designated supportive living resident experience survey, please visit the HQCA website.

Alberta Quality Matrix for Health

The Health Quality Council of Alberta uses the Alberta Quality Matrix for Health as a way of organizing information and thinking around the complexity of the healthcare system. This measure can be used as input to assess supported living’s performance in these dimensions of quality: Acceptability and Appropriateness.

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