Promoting Nursing Home Quality Improvement: Project Archives

Refining the Wellspring Model and Developing a Strategic Plan for Replication and Sustainability

IFAS assisted Wellspring Innovative Solutions, Inc., in readying the Wellspring quality model for adoption and developing a strategic plan for disseminating, replicating and sustaining the model over time. The project also created an infrastructure to support ongoing training and technical assistance that enables Wellspring to:

• Promote the model among long-term care providers, consumers, federal and state policy makers and regulatory stakeholders.
• Develop the capacity to serve as ongoing peer mentors.
• Create a higher-quality long-term care system in the United States.

Funder: The Commonwealth Fund
Partners: Wellspring Innovative Solutions, Inc.

Evaluating the Wellspring Program-A Model for Promoting Quality of Care in Nursing Homes

IFAS teamed with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A&M University to evaluate the Wellspring model of nursing home quality. The model was studied in an alliance of 11 facilities in Wisconsin that developed a multi-organizational approach to evaluating clinical outcomes, staff training and staff empowerment. The research team used a multi-faceted methodology-including site visits; interviews and focus groups with residents, families and staff; participant observation; and analyses of secondary data from diverse sources-to conduct this evaluation. (Executive Summary PDF LINK)

Funder: The Commonwealth Fund
Partners: University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A&M University

Abundant Life Design

IFAS evaluated the implementation of the Catholic Community Care's Abundant Life "Mind Body Spirit" Wellness Model, developed in response to the health care needs of older adults, family, staff and volunteers in 17 health and human service organizations in northern Ohio. The model is based on the philosophy that each person is an inseparable unity of body, mind and spirit and that nurturing the whole person contributes to wellness and abundant life. The Abundant Life Wellness Awareness Tool is the major instrument used to create awareness of this whole-person care. To determine the impact of this approach on the quality of employee work and resident life, IFAS conducted a pre-post survey on whether trainings increased employee awareness, evaluated the trainings, suggested ways to improve them and conducted staff and resident/client focus groups.

Funder: The Cleveland Foundation
Partners: Catholic Community Care