Healthcare Areas

In a survey conducted in 2022-23, Health Quality Albertaasked family members of residents living in continuing care homes – type A (formerly long term care):

In the last three months, how often did you feel that there were enough nurses and aides in the continuing care home?

Family members could answer either “Never / Sometimes / Usually / Always”

When family members feel there is enough staff to support the needs of their loved one, there is an increased likelihood of a positive experience with care and services. Aspects of staffing and relationships with staff have a strong influence on the overall experience of care from the family member’s perspective.

There are a number of factors providers and leaders can consider if looking to improve family members’ overall experience of care. Before taking action, consider the following:

• What expectations do family members have about staffing? Family member perspectives may differ in the degree to which they feel there are “enough” staff at a site and how often staff need to be present.
• How might family member experiences with staffing differ from the resident?
• How can overall funding impact family member perception of staffing? Staffing is linked to acuity, or intensity of care required, and not a simple staff-to-resident ratio (e.g., one staff member for every five residents). The activities a site needs to offer in order to meet a resident’s assessed needs is typically determined by the overall acuity of the residents at each site. This means that when a higher volume and higher intensity of activities or care is required, the site’s funding reflects this. A site with an overall higher acuity population of residents are funded for things like more staff relative to a site with an overall lower acuity population of residents.
• How is this staffing formula communicated to residents and family members, to help understand why some sites might appear to be staffed differently than others?
• Why are some sites performing better? How are those doing better managing resources differently? What types of staffing and staffing arrangements foster better experiences?
• Which 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?

For information about Health Quality Alberta’s Facility-based Continuing Care Survey, please visit Health Quality Albertawebsite.