NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region

Tags: health care, elders, nursing

Objective(s): To identify and understand existing advice seeking networks among nursing homes in Canada.

Project Description: The purpose of the study is to identify and understand existing advice seeking networks among nursing homes in Canada. The overall objectives of the study are to: 1. Identify the structure of existing informal inter-organizational relationships among 958 nursing homes in Atlantic, Western and Northern Canada; 2. identify which nursing homes within the overall network link different groups of homes together and which homes within groups are most influential; 3. understand why particular network actors (e.g., nursing home leaders frequently sought out for advice or reputationally prominent nursing homes) are identified as highly sought after; and, 4. collaborate with groups of nursing homes to interpret their position and linkages within the overall network structure and to develop strategies to influence spread and scale-up of innovations. In this study, researchers and knowledge users in the nursing home sector will work together focusing on three main components. First, the research team will discover the network structure using a short online network survey that will be completed by nursing home Directors of Care in Atlantic, Western and Northern Canada. Second, the research team will explore in interviews with some of these leaders why they seek the opinions of the people they do. Third, the research team will work with partners and stakeholders to spread awareness of the findings and develop strategies to use these existing networks to expand methods for spreading new information. In Northern Canada all Directors of Care/Nursing of long term care facilities (N=14) will be invited to participate in the study. They will get access to the online-survey via Email. After analyzing the existing advice seeking networks among these persons and nursing homes the research team invites some of them to participate in interviews to gather knowledge why they seek the opinions of the people they do go for advice. This work is designed to identify existing advice seeking networks within the residential long-term care sector so that innovations and practices can spread throughout the sector more efficiently to enhance resident care. The participants will be providing information about how they access information and whose advice you seek in residential care. With the anticipated results the research team can leverage existing links between nursing homes to ultimately improve resident care. The research team will work with partners and stakeholders to spread awareness of the findings and develop strategies to use the existing networks to expand methods for spreading new information. The team will collaborate with groups of nursing homes to interpret their position and linkages within the overall network structure and to develop strategies to influence spread and scale-up of innovations. Furthermore the research team will publish information on identified networks and their characteristics in open access journals. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from December 17, 2014 to December 31, 2014.