NASW Participates in Culture Change Expert Panel, Contributes to Issue Paper

Culture change—the shift from institutional models of care toward consumer-directed, socially oriented models—is a growing movement in long-term care communities across the United States and beyond. This movement presents new opportunities and challenges for social workers, especially those working in nursing homes. (For more information about culture change, please view the 2003 Aging Specialty Practice Section article, De-Institutionalizing an Institutional System.

In keeping with NASW’s goal of contributing to dialogue on emerging practice issues, the Association accepted an invitation to participate in an interdisciplinary meeting of culture change experts. The October 2008 meeting was convened by the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing College of Nursing, in collaboration with the Coalition for Geriatric Nursing Organizations (CGNO) and the Pioneer Network, and funded by the Commonwealth Fund. The purpose of the meeting was to foster dialogue, to identify catalysts and barriers to nurses’ involvement in culture change, and to identify steps that the culture change movement and nursing community can take to promote competency in resident-directed care for nurses working in nursing homes. NASW member and nationally recognized culture change expert Christine Krugh, MSW, LICSW, represented NASW at the meeting and worked collaboratively with NASW staff to provide input on the development of the recently published issue paper, Nurses’ Involvement in Nursing Home Culture Change: Overcoming Barriers, Advancing Opportunities. (Executive summary also available.)