Background
Organizational culture in group homes for people with intellectual disabilities has been identified as influencing staff behaviour and residents’ quality of life (QOL). Despite this influence, culture has been under‐researched, with no published and validated instrument to measure its dimensions in group homes. The aim was to develop such a measure.
Method
The Group Home Culture Scale (GHCS) was developed using a theory‐driven approach. Items were generated from the research literature, which were reviewed by experts and tested in cognitive interviews. Data from 343 front‐line staff were used for exploratory factor analysis.
Results
The content and face validity of the GHCS were found to be acceptable. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the GHCS measured seven dimensions of group home culture. Cronbach's alpha for the dimensions ranged from 0.81 to 0.92.
Conclusions
The GHCS has potential use in research to determine whether dimensions of group home culture predict the quality of staff support and residents’ QOL.
Deinstitutionalization in Australia and other countries, such as England, Sweden and the United States (Mansell, Beadle-Brown, & Special Interest Research Group, 2010), has changed not only where, but also how people with intellectual disabilities live. Studies into the impact on people with intellectual disabilities of moving from institutions to group homes (i.e. community-based accommodation for 3-8 people, with 24 hr support available) demonstrate that they typically experience better quality of life (QOL) outcomes living in group homes (Kozma, Mansell, & Beadle-Brown, 2009). They have been found, for example, to experience greater levels of engagement in activities, participation in the community and choice making when living in group homes (Emerson & Hatton, 1996; Kozma et al., 2009). The concept of QOL has influenced both research into and delivery of supported accommodation services for people with intellectual disabilities as a measurable and valued outcome (Schalock, Verdugo, Gomez, & Reinders, 2016). Of relevance to measuring QOL, Schalock et al. (2002) proposed that it is a multidimensional construct influenced by personal and environmental factors, with subjective and objective components. Although research into deinstitutionalization has shown that QOL outcomes are generally better for people with intellectual
Background: Organisational culture in group homes for people with intellectual disabilities has been identified as an influence on service delivery and staff behaviour. The aim was to examine patterns of culture across group homes in disability organisations. Method: The Group Home Culture Scale (GHCS) was used to measure staff perceptions of culture. Data were available from 260 staff who worked across 58 group homes managed by eight organisations. Using scatterplots and measures of dispersion, the scores on the seven GHCS subscales were examined for patterns of integrated (i.e., similarities) and differentiated (i.e., variability) culture within the organisations. Results: Patterns of differentiated culture were found in six organisations for one or more GHCS subscales. Patterns of integrated culture were found in three organisations for one subscale. In two organisations, patterns of both integrated and differentiated culture were found. Conclusions: The findings contribute to the conceptualisation of and research into organisational culture in group homes, with implications for changing and maintaining culture.
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