NURSING-HOME CARE QUALITY - A MULTIDIMENSIONAL THEORETICAL-MODEL

This exploratory study was undertaken to discover the defining dimensi ons of nursing home care quality and to propose a conceptual model to guide nursing home quality research and the development of instruments to measure nursing home care quality. Three focus groups were conduct ed in three central Missouri communities. A naturalistic inductive ana lysis of the transcribed content was completed. Two core variables (in teraction and odor) and several related concepts emerged from the data . Using the core variables, related concepts, and detailed description s from participants, three models of nursing home care quality emerged from the analysis: (1) a model of a nursing home with good quality ca re; (2) a model of a nursing home with poor quality care; and (3) a mu ltidimensional model of nursing home care quality, The seven dimension s of the multidimensional model of nursing home care quality are: cent ral focus, interaction, milieu, environment, individualized care, staf f, and safety. To pursue quality, the many dimensions must be of prima ry concern to nursing homes. We are testing an instrument based on the model to observe and score the dimensions of nursing home care qualit y.