Methods for quality in care for the elderly

As part of the project by the Ministry of Social Welfare on quality in care for the elderly, a number of municipalities have developed and tested methods for achieving better quality in the elderly care. SFI – The Danish National Centre for Social Research has monitored and evaluated the overall project. The evaluation shows that both managers and employees have enjoyed and benefitted from the project. After working with the institutions’ values, managers have become better at taking decisions and setting priorities when faced with conflicting demands. Furthermore, employees have found labels for the values they deal with on a daily basis. The work to make sure there is more consideration for the individual wants and needs of the elderly has given employees greater job satisfaction. In general, including the employees in all phases of methodological quality work is important for the success of a project. The evaluation is based on 20 individual interviews with managers, assessment officers, and care workers, as well as six group interviews with care workers in the seven municipalities taking part in the project.