The implementation of integrated emotion-oriented care: did it actually change the attitude, skills and time spent of trained caregivers?
BACKGROUND
Successful implementation is a vital precondition for investigating the outcome of care innovation. This study concerned the evaluation of the implementation of integrated emotion-oriented care (IEOC) in psychogeriatric nursing home wards. The main question was whether the trained caregivers actually applied the knowledge and techniques of IEOC during their daily work.


METHODS
The study was conducted within the framework of a randomized clinical trial into the effectiveness of IEOC in 16 wards. Preceding the experimental period, staff from 16 wards were educated and trained to work with a standardized care plan, resulting in a similar level of quality of care at the start of the trial. On the experimental wards IEOC was then implemented by training on the job in addition to training courses for personnel. To examine the implementation effectiveness, a self-report questionnaire, 'Emotion-oriented Skills in the Interaction with Elderly People with Dementia', was administered at baseline and after 7 months to a sample of caregivers from the experimental and the control wards. In addition, participant observation was conducted on four experimental and four control wards, and time spent by care personnel on different type of care tasks was registered.


RESULTS
The implementation of IEOC resulted in increased emotion-oriented skills and more knowledge of the residents among the caregivers. Providing IEOC was not more time consuming for the caregivers than providing usual care.


CONCLUSION
This study shows that the implementation of IEOC was effective. It is recommended that in intervention studies the correct application of a new intervention or care approach is examined before jumping to conclusions about the effectiveness of the intervention or care approach itself.
['van der Kooij|C H|CH|', 'Dröes|R M|RM|', 'de Lange|J|J|', 'Ettema|T P|TP|', 'Cools|H J M|HJ|', 'van Tilburg|W|W|']
D000328:Adult D017028:Caregivers D003704:Dementia D004644:Emotions D005260:Female D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice D006302:Health Services Research D006707:Homes for the Aged D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009426:Netherlands D009735:Nursing Homes D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care D015397:Program Evaluation D011787:Quality of Health Care D000078329:Workforce
implementation effectiveness compliance emotion oriented care nursing skills