Media Contact
Anna Varela
Director of Communications and Public Relations
College of Arts & Sciences
[email protected]
ATLANTA–Georgia State University’s Gerontology Institute has received $1.6 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Georgia State Survey Agency for a three-year training and development project to improve the state’s nursing homes.
This project, called “Building Resources for Delivering Person-Centered Care in Georgia Nursing Homes,” builds on the work done by the nonprofit Culture Change Network of Georgia (CCNG), which supports culture change and person-centered care in long-term care services and support organizations.
Elisabeth O. Burgess (left) and Jennifer Craft Morgan will lead a multiyear project to improve Georgia’s nursing homes.
The multiyear project will be led by Jennifer Craft Morgan, assistant professor of gerontology, and Elisabeth O. Burgess, director of the Gerontology Institute in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State.
The team will develop a program to improve the quality of life of nursing home residents in Georgia, including those living with dementia, by providing resources, as well as staff development and training, to the state’s 374 nursing homes.
“Nursing homes do not always have adequate support and resources to improve the education of their staff and to sustain a robust continuous quality improvement cycle,” Morgan said. “Residents of nursing homes can experience loss of autonomy, independence and loneliness when care isn’t tailored to their personal needs and preferences.”
Burgess added: “Culture change has the potential to increase resident choice and empower staff, and is associated with improved care and outcomes for nursing home residents. Residents, families and staff all need to be empowered with resources and education.”
The project will include the following components:
- A three-stage needs assessment of Georgia’s nursing homes.
- Web-based information and resources for Georgia’s nursing homes.
- Stakeholder engagement across the state, providing awareness education on culture change, person-centered care and living with dementia.
- An interactive competency-based online continuing education training for nursing home staff, residents and informal care partners.
Morgan and Burgess are partnering with the Culture Change Network of Georgia (CCNG). LeadingAge Georgia, led by Ginny Helms, president and chief executive officer, will receive a subcontract to convene the CCNG and partner with other key stakeholders who will be advisers to the project. Project consultants are: Walter Coffey, co-founder of CCNG and managing director of WD International; Kim McRae, co-founder of CCNG and president of Have a Good Life; Rose Marie Fagan, co-founder and founding executive director of the Pioneer Network; and Joan Carlson, principal of JMC Consulting.