Regulatory relationships in nursing homes: us and them, me and you, we

Effective collaboration between regulatory staff and those they inspect has been recognised as a key component in furthering the improvement agenda within nursing homes. This presentation will discuss a study which is using appreciative inquiry to bring together all those who participate in nursing home inspection (inspectors, inspection volunteers, care home managers and staff, residents and relatives), where the focus is on the shared capacity of all involved to enhance the experience of inspection. Drawing on relationship-centred care and complex responsive processes theoretical frameworks this study explores the relational processes at play in inspection with particular attention to those which help to build collaboration. Knowledge of these positive relational practices is used by the research participants to inform experimentation with new initiatives to develop these relationships
further.

Principle methods used in this study are group discussions, interviews and observation of inspection visits. Representatives from each of the inspection stakeholder groups are involved in these data collection methods. A key principle within appreciative inquiry is that of ‘inquiry as intervention’, and so the coming together of the various stakeholders for group discussions has in itself an influence on relationships among the stakeholders. Broad themes for enhancing relationships in the nursing home inspection setting include: Shared ownership of inspection process and outcomes and Shared humanness- deepening our understanding of each other’s perspectives. The ways in which these themes can be brought to life in nursing homes will be outlined in this presentation.