Quality of life outcomes for residents and quality ratings of care homes: is there a relationship?

Abstract

the approach to providing quality ratings by the regulator in England is currently under review. Future quality indicators need to demonstrate their relationship with quality of life outcomes if they are to be a reliable guide to commissioners and private individuals purchasing care.

Why are relatives of care home residents reluctant to “rock the boat”? Is there a culture of acceptance?

“…Indeed, the Older People's Commissioner for Wales (2014) found that families often have low expectations about these higher-order aspects of quality of life in care homes. Such findings reflect Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943) and have been supported by previous research measuring social carerelated quality of life, which found that care homes in England tend to be very good at supporting residents' basic needs but do less to meet their higher-order needs (such as control over daily life and social participation) (Netten et al, 2012;Towers et al, 2016). Reasons for this are multidimensional and might be partly attributed to traditional medical models of long-term care facilities (i.e.…”

The public gets what the public wants: Experiences of public reporting in long-term care in Europe

“…the Netherlands). The risk of inter-rater unreliability is nonetheless present and this has shown to be a relevant issue in the US context [31] and in assessing quality of life [32]. Observed standard deviation of ratings in nursing homes has been consistently low in Germany, which could suggest consistency in ratings used.…”

Quality of care and the quality of life in care homes

“…Netten et al asked whether, in England, a relationship existed between quality of life in care homes and a nowdiscarded 'star' rating used by the regulator [1]. They found both 'yes' and 'no' answers, the 'yes' relating to residential care and the 'no' to nursing.…”

“…Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that body composition changes with ageing, with increase in fat mass and decrease in muscle mass. Ageing leads to increase in the amount of fat, even without changes to body weight [1]. In normal and obese subjects, body weight tends to increase, peaking at an age of about 65 years in men and later in women, and then decreasing with further ageing [2].…”

“…In normal and obese subjects, body weight tends to increase, peaking at an age of about 65 years in men and later in women, and then decreasing with further ageing [2]. Studies using both anthropometry or computed tomography (CT) to evaluate body fat distribution have clearly shown that with ageing, intra-abdominal fat volume increases, while fat in thighs and calves decreases [1]. Very recently, it has been shown that with ageing, there is also increase in the amount of fat inside and around muscles, as well as ectopic fat deposition [3].…”