BMC Health Services Research is calling for submissions to our Collection on Quality and safety of care in nursing home and care home settings.
As people live longer, many live with one or more chronic conditions that require treatment, assisted living, and a range of health services including 24-hour medical supervision. The complexity of care and the singularity of the care settings create unique challenges for the comprehensive delivery of high-quality, safe care for nursing homes and care home residents.
The growing share of the older population then creates the basis for an unmet demand and for the deterioration of care provision in long-term care and residential settings with severe consequences on the safety, health, and well-being of residents.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of standards of care in these contexts and has also exposed the impact of staff management, organization, and workload on patients' safety and well-being. Although affected health systems strive for quality and safety of care in nursing home and care home settings and engage in systemic reforms and investments to ultimately ensure the well-being of all those in need of care, one of the major challenges for policymakers and stakeholders is to define and measure quality of care.
We, therefore, welcome submissions of original qualitative and quantitative research, systematic/scoping review articles, and study protocols aiming to enhance current metrics of quality and safety of care in nursing homes and care homes and ultimately implement measures to improve care for the patients and residents. We are particularly interested in research with policy implications in the following areas:
- Studies investigating key factors that affect quality and safety improvement work in nursing homes and home care settings collecting data on e.g.
- The perspectives and experiences of residents and their families as well as staff
- Workforce recruitment, retention, competency, and professional development
- Regulatory compliance and enforcement
- Studies aiming to review, implement, or harmonize current metrics on nursing home performance, patient safety, effectiveness, timeliness, person-centeredness, etc.
- Interventions and implementation studies aiming to improve quality of care with e.g.
- Person-centered care models, models that take into account resident preferences, promote dignity and autonomy in care provision
- Integration of technology for improving care including telehealth and remote monitoring in nursing homes
- Collaborative models of care involving various healthcare professionals, home networks, hospitals, primary care providers, and interdisciplinary teams
- Care planning models with patient involvement including on end-of-life care decisions
- Interventions and implementation studies aiming to measure and/or to improve safety standards via e.g.
- Safety and risk management actions
- Evaluation of regulatory standards and their impact
- Innovative solutions
- Policy innovations to enhance care quality and safety
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