‘This Adds Another Perspective’: Qualitative Descriptive Study Evaluating Simulation-Based Training for Health Care Assistants, to Enhance the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes

Catherine Aicken; Lisa Hodgson; Kay  De Vries; Iain Wilkinson; Zena Aldridge; Kathleen T Galvin

doi:10.3390/ijerph18083995

‘This Adds Another Perspective’: Qualitative Descriptive Study Evaluating Simulation-Based Training for Health Care Assistants, to Enhance the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes

Catherine Aicken, Lisa Hodgson, Kay De Vries, Iain Wilkinson, Zena Aldridge, Kathleen T Galvin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Much of the UK’s ageing population lives in care homes, often with complex care needs including dementia. Optimal care requires strong clinical leadership, but opportunities for staff development in these settings are limited. Training using simulation can enable experiential learning in situ. In two nursing homes, Health Care Assistants (HCAs) received training in clinical communication skills (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation Education through Technology and Simulation, SETS: group training with an actor simulating scenarios); and dementia (A Walk Through Dementia, AWTD: digital simulation, delivered one-to-one). In this qualitative descriptive study, we evaluated the potential of this training to enhance HCAs’ clinical leadership skills, through thematic analysis of 24 semi-structured interviews with HCAs (before/after training) and their managers and mentors. Themes were checked by both interviewers. HCAs benefitted from watching colleagues respond to SETS scenarios and reported greater confidence in communicating with registered healthcare professionals. Some found role-play participation challenging. AWTD sensitised HCAs to the experiences of residents with dementia, and those with limited dementia experience gained a fuller understanding of the disease’s effects. Staffing constraints affected participation in group training. Training using simulation is valuable in this setting, particularly when delivered flexibly. Further work is needed to explore its potential on a larger scale.

Original language	English
Article number	3995
Journal	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume	18
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083995
Publication status	Published - 10 Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, through its 2017 Strengthening Nursing Leadership grant programme. This manuscript was an invited contribution and incurred no APC.

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the care home organisation for their collaboration, and to staff and managers for their support and participation in our study. SETS was developed and delivered as part of a collaborative project between Sussex Community Trust and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, and funded from a grant by Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex with the aim of reducing admissions to hospital by using technology enhanced learning. The professional actor’s fee was paid by the research grant. No authors received any additional funding to deliver the training. AWTD was developed by Alzheimer’s Research UK and is available for free download from http://www.awalkthroughdementia.org/ (accessed on 6th April 2021).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Implementation science
Long-term care
Nursing homes
Quality improvement

Access to Document

10.3390/ijerph18083995Licence: CC BY

ijerph-18-03995Final published version, 544 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Aicken, C., Hodgson, L., De Vries, K., Wilkinson, I., Aldridge, Z., & Galvin, K. T. (2021). ‘This Adds Another Perspective’: Qualitative Descriptive Study Evaluating Simulation-Based Training for Health Care Assistants, to Enhance the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8), Article 3995. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083995

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abstract = "Much of the UK{\textquoteright}s ageing population lives in care homes, often with complex care needs including dementia. Optimal care requires strong clinical leadership, but opportunities for staff development in these settings are limited. Training using simulation can enable experiential learning in situ. In two nursing homes, Health Care Assistants (HCAs) received training in clinical communication skills (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation Education through Technology and Simulation, SETS: group training with an actor simulating scenarios); and dementia (A Walk Through Dementia, AWTD: digital simulation, delivered one-to-one). In this qualitative descriptive study, we evaluated the potential of this training to enhance HCAs{\textquoteright} clinical leadership skills, through thematic analysis of 24 semi-structured interviews with HCAs (before/after training) and their managers and mentors. Themes were checked by both interviewers. HCAs benefitted from watching colleagues respond to SETS scenarios and reported greater confidence in communicating with registered healthcare professionals. Some found role-play participation challenging. AWTD sensitised HCAs to the experiences of residents with dementia, and those with limited dementia experience gained a fuller understanding of the disease{\textquoteright}s effects. Staffing constraints affected participation in group training. Training using simulation is valuable in this setting, particularly when delivered flexibly. Further work is needed to explore its potential on a larger scale.",

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note = "Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing, through its 2017 Strengthening Nursing Leadership grant programme. This manuscript was an invited contribution and incurred no APC. Funding Information: Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the care home organisation for their collaboration, and to staff and managers for their support and participation in our study. SETS was developed and delivered as part of a collaborative project between Sussex Community Trust and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, and funded from a grant by Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex with the aim of reducing admissions to hospital by using technology enhanced learning. The professional actor{\textquoteright}s fee was paid by the research grant. No authors received any additional funding to deliver the training. AWTD was developed by Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s Research UK and is available for free download from http://www.awalkthroughdementia.org/ (accessed on 6th April 2021). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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Aicken, C, Hodgson, L, De Vries, K, Wilkinson, I, Aldridge, Z & Galvin, KT 2021, '‘This Adds Another Perspective’: Qualitative Descriptive Study Evaluating Simulation-Based Training for Health Care Assistants, to Enhance the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 8, 3995. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083995

‘This Adds Another Perspective’: Qualitative Descriptive Study Evaluating Simulation-Based Training for Health Care Assistants, to Enhance the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes. / Aicken, Catherine; Hodgson, Lisa; De Vries, Kay et al.
In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18, No. 8, 3995, 10.04.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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‘This Adds Another Perspective’: Qualitative Descriptive Study Evaluating Simulation-Based Training for Health Care Assistants, to Enhance the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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