Changing Roles of Care Team Members within New Models of Care Delivery in Residential Care Facilities: Implications for the Delivery of Quality of Care

Providing quality of care (QoC) to older adults in residential care settings is an ongoing challenge given the increasingly complex needs of this population and the escalating economic constraints within which health authorities operate. While the implementation of the residential care delivery model in a Western Canadian health authority has contributed to some improvements in QoC, it has also highlighted key challenges that are both interpersonal and organizational in nature; specifically, gaps in leadership, teamwork, mentorship, and communication, as well as staffing mix, staffing consistency, resident complexity, and competing policy and program initiatives and directives. The implementation of a major change in care delivery impacts residents, families, and staff and may, in turn, impact their perceptions of change in QoC. When evaluating a model, therefore, it is important to examine both qualitative and quantitative outcomes: stories from those most affected in their everyday lives and trends in QoC indicator data