JAMDA j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . j a m d a . c o m

The leadership behaviour of managers significantly impacts person-centred care practice and contributes to the psychosocial climate for both staff and residents in aged care. This study is the first empirically to confirm that middle managers have a central leadership role in developing and supporting person-centred care practice, thereby creating a positive psychosocial climate and high quality care.

Aim: To identify characteristics of highly rated leadership in nursing homes.

Aims and objectives To explore how managers describe leading towards person‐centred care in Swedish nursing homes. Background Although a growing body of research knowledge exists highlighting the importance of leadership to promote person‐centred care, studies focused on nursing home managers' own descriptions of leading their staff towards providing person‐centred care is lacking. Design Descriptive interview study. COREQ guidelines have been applied. Methods The study consisted of semi‐structured interviews with 12 nursing home managers within 11 highly person‐centred nursing homes purposively selected from a nationwide survey of nursing homes in Sweden. Data collection was performed in April 2017, and the data were analysed using content analysis. Results Leading towards person‐centred care involved a main category; embodying person‐centred being and doing, with four related categories: operationalising person‐centred objectives; promoting a person‐centred atmosphere; maximising person‐centred team potential; and optimising person‐centred support structures. Conclusions The findings revealed that leading towards person‐centred care was described as having a personal understanding of the PCC concept and how to translate it into practice, and maximising the potential of and providing support to care staff, within a trustful and innovative work place. The findings also describe how managers co‐ordinate several aspects of care simultaneously, such as facilitating, evaluating and refining the translation of person‐centred philosophy into synchronised care actions. Relevance to clinical practice The findings can be used to inspire nursing home leaders' practices and may serve as a framework for implementing person‐centred care within facilities. A reasonable implication of these findings is that if organisations are committed to person‐centred care provision, care may need to be organised in a way that enables managers to be present on the units, to enact these strategies and lead person‐centred care.

Promoting a supporting work environment through leadership is an important implication for nursing home managers as it can influence staff perception of job strain and social support within the unit. By providing leadership, offering support and strategies towards a healthy work environment, nursing home managers can buffer adverse health effects among staff.

The aim of this article is to describe the Umeå ageing and health research programme that explores person-centred care and health-promoting living conditions for an ageing population in Sweden, and to place this research programme in a national and international context of available research evidence and trends in aged care policy and practice. Contemporary trends in aged care policy includes facilitating ageing in place and providing person-centred care across home and aged care settings, despite limited evidence on how person-centred care can be operationalised in home care services and sheltered housing accommodation for older people. The Umeå ageing and health research programme consists of four research projects employing controlled, cross-sectional and longitudinal designs across ageing in place, sheltered housing, and nursing homes. The research programme is expected to provide translational knowledge on the structure, content and outcomes of person-centred care and health-promoting living conditions in home care, sheltered housing models, and nursing homes for older people and people with dementia.

Long-term care (LTC) reflects a growing emphasis on person-centered care (PCC), with services oriented around individuals’ needs and preferences. Addressing contextual and cultural differences across countries offers important insight into factors that facilitate or hinder application of PCC practices within and across countries. This article takes an international lens to consider country-specific contexts of LTC, describing preliminary steps to develop common data elements that capture contextual differences across LTC settings globally. Through an iterative series of online, telephone, and in-person sessions, we engaged in in-depth discussions with 11 colleague experts in residential LTC and coauthors from six countries (China and Hong Kong, England, Sweden, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States). Our discussions yielded rich narrative describing a vast range in types of LTC settings, leading to our development of a working definition of residential LTC. Scope of services, funding, ownership, and regulations varied greatly across countries and across different residential LTC settings within countries. Moving forward, we recommend expanding our activities to countries that reflect different stages of residential LTC development. Our goal is to contribute to a larger initiative underway by the WE-THRIVE consortium to establish a global research measurement infrastructure that advances PCC internationally.

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