A Quality Assessment and Improvement System for Long-Term Care

Abstract

This article describes a model quality assessment and improvement system for long-term care facilities and outlines ongoing research and pilot-testing of its component parts. The model is based on six guiding principles identified as appropriate for the long-term care industry and four highly interrelated key functions of quality assessment.

The RAF method for regulation, assessment, follow‐up and continuous improvement of quality of care: implementation in regulatory systems of government services and care facilities

“…Full assimilation is considered to have taken place when the service's regulatory system uses the RAF method in all of the facilities under its supervision as part of its routine operation, and the data bases serve as the basis for decision-making and policymaking at all levels (in the regulatory system and the facilities). At this point, the service and its regulatory system become a``learning organization'' that no longer requires the active involvement of the agent of change, because the process of introducing change has become part of the system's routine and the ideology of continuous improvement has been internalized and institutionalized (Case, 1996;Fleishman et al, 1997d.…”