Monitoring work well-being, job confidence and care provided by care home staff using a self-report survey

Abstract

Background and methodIn care homes, staff well-being, job confidence and opinion of the care provided to residents are central to morale and care quality. In this study, care home staff in the East Midlands region of England completed self-reported outcome and experience surveys in two rounds. Mean scores for each home are shown using a scale from 0 (all chose lowest option) to 100 (all chose highest option). High scores are good.ResultsIn round 1, 332 staff in 15 homes submitted responses; in round 2, 207 staff in 9 homes. Mean scores in round 1 and round 2 were similar, although those of some homes scores differed significantly, cancelling each other out. Overall, Work Wellbeing mean score was 83 (care home range 48–97), with worthwhileness (92) the highest ranked item and anxiety at work (78) the lowest. Job Confidence mean score was 84 (range 59–94), with able to manage the work (86) highest and involvement in decisions that affect staff (79) lowest. Care Provided mean score was 86 (range 59–97), with treat people kindly (91) highest and well organised (80) lowest. Homes rated as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission had higher scores on average than those rated good, which were higher than those rated as needing improvement.ConclusionsThis study has demonstrated the practicality of measuring staff views of their Work Wellbeing, Job Confidence and Care Provided in care homes. Rather than wait for adverse quality outcomes to be detected, this approach offers a way to track staff morale and declared capability over time.

Measure what we want: a taxonomy of short generic person-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs)

“…Four of these measures (health status, health confidence, personal well-being and experience) have been validated psychometrically at the time of writing 17 20 24 24. Five have been described in the literature (digital confidence, user satisfaction, innovation readiness, innovation process and behaviour change),25 three have been described in the specific context of residential care homes (work well-being, job confidence and service provided)42 and the process is underway for others. We encourage other validation studies.…”

“…These measures have been used with success in commissioning services and in the evaluation of new care models,44 social prescribing,23 care home services21 22 42 and in digital health evaluation, including self-care for people with diabetes and detection of atrial fibrillation (AF).…”

Health status of care home residents: practicality and construct validity of data collection by staff at scale

“…More recently, we have examined staff perceptions of the quality of service they provide to care home residents, their well-being at work and their confidence in doing their job 16…”