CASE STUDY: Boston Facility Learns to Emphasize Choice
The Boston long-term care facility Hebrew Rehabilitation Center (HRC) successfully shifted its culture toward one in which residents have more choice and control over daily activities, a PHI case study reports.
The case study, written by PHI Director of Communications Karen Kahn, details the introduction of culture change and person-centered values to HRC Boston — with the help of Susan Misiorski, the national director of PHI Coaching & Consulting Services, and Kathy McCollett, PHI organizational change consultant.
Collaborating with Misiorski and McCollett, HRC Boston leaders worked to develop a multi-pronged approach to achieving their goal.
Some of their strategies included training all staff in communication skills and problem-solving and empowering certified nursing assistants (known as “resident assistants” at HRC Boston) to make decisions that honor residents’ individual choices.
The case study details how, with PHI’s expertise combined with HRC Boston’s ability and willingness to change its culture, each of these goals were met.
The workplace culture at HRC Boston has become more trusting, participatory, and — particularly from resident assistants’ point of view — empowering, employees there say.
Marie “Alberte” Parente, who has been an HRC Boston nurse for 27 years, is quoted in the case study saying that resident assistants “feel [that] people are listening to them. They have an issue, they can bring it to the table. It is a big shift.”
“The HRC Boston workplace culture has come a long way,” Misiorski says in the case study. “There is a sense that everyone can participate in shaping the vision of the Boston campus as a quality workplace and a place where residents enjoy their quality of life.”
The case study also lists numerous positive outcomes that HRC Boston residents and staff have experienced, including lower staff turnover and higher resident satisfaction levels.
— by Matthew Ozga
