For Immediate Release                                                                                                               
February 10, 2016

 

Eden Alternative Grant Project Calls on Texas Nursing Homes to Leverage Leadership

 

Strong leadership is essential for long-term care that puts the person first. Through funding from the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, The Eden Alternative® is facilitating a 2-year educational project that will provide nursing home leaders with the skills and tools needed to create an organizational culture focused on individualized care.

 

ROCHESTER, NY (PRWEB) February 09, 2016

The Eden Alternative has received funds from the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services to help Texas nursing homes develop leadership practices that facilitate high employee engagement and support person-directed care practices. Both help reduce staff turnover, increase employee and consumer satisfaction, and encourage and sustain quality improvement in nursing homes.

“With strong leadership, staff motivation and commitment rise exponentially,” says Chris Perna, President and CEO of The Eden Alternative. “Teams develop the ability and flexibility to tackle complex challenges with creativity and confidence. And perhaps most importantly, strong leaders learn to grow other leaders.”

Leveraging Leadership to Drive Sustainable Change prepares leaders to develop an organizational culture based on the practice of person-directed care. Person-directed care is structured around the unique needs, preferences, and desires of the individual in question. Through this approach, decisions and actions around care honor the voices and choices of care recipients and those working most closely with them.

“Leaders, who view person-directed care as a program, tend to separate it from quality improvement efforts. When leaders see person-directed care through the lens of deep systems change, however, they see it drives quality improvement and naturally engages the voices and choices of every member of the care partner team – employees, residents, and family members alike,” says Perna.

“Person-directed values include choice, dignity, respect, support, self-determination, and purposeful living,” says Dorothy Crawford, President of the Texas Culture Change Coalition (TXCCC). Leveraging Leadership is key to the success of any person-centered care journey. TxCCC challenges all Texas nursing homes to participate.”

For this grant-funded project, 100 Texas nursing homes will each enroll a team of 4 formal leaders in a comprehensive educational experience, involving in-person training, online training, self-guided implementation, coaching, and evaluation of project outcomes. During the 2-year project, The Eden Alternative will also work closely with the prestigious National Research Corporation to administer a comprehensive evaluation process that will measure quality improvement strides made by participating organizations.

“Training long-term care leaders in the art and science of person-centered care and culture change will transform the field. This project will create a substantial cohort of leaders that will provide a better model of care for residents for years to come,” says George Linial, President & CEO of LeadingAge Texas.

“There is a palpable shift toward personalized care in long-term care strategies that is yielding better outcomes and quality of life for aging Texans, “said Kevin Warren, President and CEO of Texas Health Care Association (THCA). “Leveraging Leadership will broaden and sustain that progress by investing in the key asset in health care delivery – those who provide the care.”

Registration is now open for organizational teams. Fully-funded registration is reserved for employees of Medicare and/or Medicaid participating nursing homes only. Project space is limited.  To learn more, go to www.edenalt.org.

# # #

About THCA

Founded in 1950, the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) is the largest long-term care association in Texas. THCA’s membership is comprised of several hundred licensed non-profit and for-profit skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), specialized rehabilitation facilities and assisted living facilities in Texas. These facilities provide comprehensive, around-the-clock nursing care for chronically ill or short-term residents of all ages, along with rehabilitative and specialized medical programs. THCA also represents more than 190 long-term care businesses that provide products and services to the state’s approximately 2,850 nursing homes and assisted living facilities. To learn more, visit http://txhca.org/ or connect with THCA on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.