A Most Significant Change evaluation of a new co-designed tool to measure holistic well-being in consumers of community aged care services

Abstract:Objectives: To evaluate a Wellbeing Check-in tool and process for use with BlueCare's home care package (HCP) clients by care and well-being practitioners. The tool had been co-designed with HCP clients and trialled with 15 clients. Methods: The Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology was used to gather stories from five practitioners, five HCP staff and seven clients. A workshop with senior staff was held to determine themes and whether the tool met its aims. Results: Out of 22 MSC stories, 18 were judged in scope by workshop participants. Eight themes were then identified. Four themes reflected the content of the narratives (i.e. what was discussed): Isolation and connection; Grief; Faith/explicit spirituality; and Client preference. The other four themes reflected the process (i.e. what the discussions meant to participants): Being there/Meaningful conversations; Impact on significant others; New insight; and Purpose of the check-in. These eight themes largely reflected the aims of the Wellbeing Check-in tool in terms of providing a means to optimise connectedness, well-being and spiritual care in accordance with the client's needs, goals and preferences. Unanticipated findings included its benefits for family members and uncertainty about the aim or value of the tool, which highlighted the need for BlueCare to be clear about the purpose of the tool in promoting it to clients and their informal carers. Conclusions: The Wellbeing Check-in tool was found to be fit for purpose. A tool used flexibly to prompt discussion about well-being can be helpful to clients and pastoral care staff.</p

Validation of the spirituality screening tool ConnecTo

Objectives: This research sought to determine the validity of the ConnecTo spirituality screening tool. This tool was developed to enable care providers to gain some understanding of the spirituality of older people entering residential aged care or receiving a home care package. It has been used successfully since 2017 when it underwent considerable testing in its developmental stage but had not been formally validated.   Methods: With the assistance of 15 aged care service providers, 56 older people were interviewed by 15 aged care professionals who were spiritual carers. A mixed-methods, triangulated approach was used for this project. Participants were invited to respond about the extent to which they found spiritual domains important in two sub-tools of ConnecTo (Spectrum Version and Visual Map). They also completed a 12-item validated spiritual assessment tool, FACIT-Sp-12. At the same time, participants gave verbal responses relating to the importance of the five domains of their spirituality. These responses were compared through manual analysis with the quantitative results and comments by the interviewers.    Results: There was positive correlation between the two sub-tools (Spectrum Version and Visual Map) and the validated FACIT-Sp-12 tool. There was also a consistent connection with the verbal contributions made by each participant. Conclusions: Results suggest that ConnecTo is a valid screening tool that assists aged care providers to understand more about each person’s spirituality at the time they commence care.</p