Jack Kirsten
An educational initiative to support the development of communities of practice in older people’s care home settings
Kirsten, Jack; Jones, Louise; Hamshire, Claire
Authors
Louise Jones
Claire Hamshire
Abstract
Background: It is predicted that care home provision for older people will need to increase significantly over the next 30 years, requiring a skilled workforce that expands to meet this growing need. Innovative practice development strategies are required to support the existing workforce and provide incentives to help recruit new staff.
Aim: This article aims to explore the use of the peer-assisted learning model to support the development of communities of practice in care home settings in an area of England.
Method: Care home teams were invited to university-based workshops and their experiences of using peer-assisted learning were elicited through narrative telephone interviews undertaken with care home managers.
Findings: Three overarching themes were identified relating to practice development: context, process and impact. Through peer-assisted learning, staff were empowered to share their expertise and knowledge with colleagues, resulting in enhanced communication, respect and person-centred resident care. Managers viewed peer-assisted learning as a sustainable, low-cost investment in staff development.
Conclusion: This article contributes to practice development by presenting reflections on an innovative initiative to facilitate the use of peer-assisted learning in educational practices in the care home workforce. Combining the philosophies of community of practice and peer-assisted learning provides a model that can foster practice development in the care home setting. Further, this work can support the development of communities of practice that operate across care homes on a national/international basis.
Implications for practice:
This article describes a sustainable practice development model that can be used in the care home setting
Grounding practice development in the philosophies of peer support and communities of practice can promote a climate of mutual respect and enhanced communication
Improved communication and sharing of expertise within care home teams offers the potential for improved resident-centred care provision
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | May 3, 2021 |
Online Publication Date | May 19, 2021 |
Publication Date | May 3, 2021 |
Deposit Date | May 29, 2024 |
Publicly Available Date | Jun 3, 2024 |
Journal | International Practice Development Journal |
Electronic ISSN | 2046-9292 |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 11 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 1-12 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.19043/ipdj.111.007 |
Keywords | Earth-Surface Processes |
Files
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
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