Gerontological Nursing Interventions Research Center (GNIRC)

Title: Translating Nursing Systems Sciences into Practice in LTC: The PALS Intervention

Principal Investigator: Kirsten Corazzini, PhD, RN

Study Site: Duke University

Abstract

As progress is made in identifying significant systems factors that impact nursing care of older adults, we require strategies to translate findings into practice; this study will develop such a strategy. Specifically, findings of the effects of relationship patterns among nursing home staff on quality of care from a comparative case study of nursing homes (NINR 2 R01 NR003178-04A2, Anderson PI), indicate that shaping local-level relationships will improve care. The purpose of this study is to establish the cultural relevance, feasibility and acceptability of an intervention designed to translate this nursing-systems knowledge into practice.

The Pay Attention, Ask Questions & Listen through Stories (PALS) intervention will be developed using an ecological framework of participatory research in two nursing homes in North Carolina; PALS is a methodology for translating knowledge about local interactions into practice to improve the clinical management of depression and behavioral symptoms. The specific aims of the study are to, in the nursing home setting: 1. Establish the cultural relevance of PALS; 2. Assess the feasibility of PALS; 3. Assess the acceptability of PALS; and 4. Establish the reliability and validity of potential outcomes measures.

The short-term outcome of this study is a methodology to translate systems-level findings into practice, which will serve as the basis for an intervention amenable to testing in a randomized-controlled trial. The long-term outcome is an intervention that could be adapted to translate system-level knowledge of multiple clinical foci, directly improving the quality of nursing care of older adults in long-term care.