Study by Dr. Eldon Wiebe and Dr. David Long

Apr 10, 2014

Study on Best Practices in Continuing Care completed by The King's University professors, Dr. Eldon Wiebe and Dr. David Long

Charis Village Housing Society was formed in 2008 in response to the need to provide a faith-based seniors housing facility in Central Alberta. This facility is to be based on Christian principles and values that will provide the basis for and guide our future goals and plans. They envision their efforts will create a "village of care" that will allow seniors to age in place within a very specific and deliberate Christian context. Charis Village Housing Society is currently working on becoming more familiar with other senior's complexes to give us some ground work as far as how the development would look. (Charis Village website).

To assist this endeavour, Charis Village Housing Society commissioned this report, which seeks to address the issue of best practices in continuing care. To do so, this report focuses on the following:

In Section 1 we address the issue of what is a "best practice", contrasting the idea of best practices with what business researchers have called signature practices. The combination of best practices and signature practices has been linked to the provision of excellence in work processes and outcomes.

In Section 2 we examine the trajectory of the Government of Alberta's development of continuing care as a "continuum of care" as well as the minimum best practice standards established by the Government of Alberta in both provision of health care and accommodation. This is augmented by a review of best practices in continuing care in studies done at the national level.

In Section 3 we examine best practice models of continuing care developed in the last 20 years which reflect profound dissatisfaction with the typical nursing home model. The models examined are the Eden Alternative and its "Green House" prototype, the Planetree model including the Wesley Village working example, and the Pioneer Network and Culture Change Movement.

Finally, in Section 4 we raise several research results that anticipate important developments in continuing care now and in the future. Among these is the quality of life as defined by seniors themselves, the social vs the medical model of care, the importance of socialisation and social engagement, the care trajectory of seniors, the place of spirituality in continuing care, and the campus model of aging in place.

Click here to download the full Study (PDF)