Delivering ‘positive care’ in nursing homes

This article describes a study of staff activity in six nursing homes for the elderly mentally ill. Three homes formed a Department of Health Special Medical Development (SMD), were highly resourced in terms of staff, and aimed to provide a good care environment and a high quality of life for the residents. The other three homes were included for comparison. The extra resources available within the SMD homes were largely used for routine care, such as resident hygiene, rather than 'positive', life - enhancing care, such as social interaction and group activities. The failure to deliver positive care in line with increases in staff numbers cannot easily be explained. However, the indication is that it is not a result of substituting untrained for trained staff, but is rather related to the way staff resources are deployed.