Enhancing Social Diversity and Communication in an Assisted Living Facility for Older Adults: A Community Health Nursing Project

Abstract

Improving the health of specific populations requires community partnerships, collaboration, and an in-depth understanding of the diverse health status and health care needs of the population.  The purpose of this paper is to describe a community health project that the authors, in conjunction with the staff and residents, implemented at an assisted living facility for older adults who needed assistance with activities of daily living but who were otherwise fairly independent. The LODGE (pseudonym) community is located in a large urban centre in Western Canada.  The focus of this three and half month project was to gain information about this community in order to help optimize the function and independence of its members. The guiding frameworks included the nursing process, the Community as a Partner model and the Population Health model. The community assessment included a windshield survey, a general survey of 142 residents living in the facility (74% response rate), key informant interviews, literature review, and several brainstorming sessions with staff and residents.  The focus of data analysis was on the salient areas of strength and areas that needed improvement.

The major finding regarding how to best optimize the function and independence of the residents included interventions related to (a) obtaining a more specific in-depth interview with residents who are inactive in both a physical and social sense in order to obtain more specific information about the activities and interests they valued in the past, and which ones they could still participate in if specific types of resources were provided , (b) enhancing relational communication and (c) increasing accessibility to information regarding the eligibility and benefits of the government funded Home Care services.  Interventions were viewed positively by members of the community. Recommendations are provided for expansion and sustainability of future community interventions.