The Oregon Caregiver Fall/Winter 2016

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Fall/Winter 2016 The Oregon Caregiver 13
quality
as equals, allowing informal leaders to
implement changes within their own
teams, delegating management, and
allowing all staff to step in as needed.
“The engagement and involvement
from every member of the team is so
incredible to see and to allow people to
be free with their ideas,” said Sarah Silva,
regional director of operations at The
Springs Living who helped oversee the
pilot program at an Avamere building
where she previously worked. “Some
of our staff may not have had a way to
express their opinions or have their
voices heard before so it really brought
the team together.”
During and following the
implementation of the program, several
key changes took place at the pilot
facilities including improved internal
communications; increased instances
of staff taking initiative and sharing
responsibilities, collaboration, and
transparency and accountability; and,
most importantly, an enhanced focus
on the residents. CareOregon staff also
studied the staff turnover at the facilities
in the program. Turnover dropped an
average 20 percent in pilot facilities over
the course of the pilot program although
CareOregon reviewers were unable to
determine whether facility staff turnover
rates declined specifically due to the pilot
program.
“The information and training leaders
and staff gained from this program will
take Oregon’s assisted living facilities
and other long term care providers to
the next level for supports and services
so they are better poised to work with
the emerging care models and CCOs,
and are more fully informed of quality
measures and resident outcomes,” said
OHCA Senior VP Quality Services Linda
Kirschbaum.
Now, CareOregon is getting ready to
launch another, two-year, second phase
of their program called Live Well™.
“The first six months of this two-year
program are about creating a new
curriculum that will use what we learned
from the CareHomes Wellbeing™ pilot
to develop an Oregon methodology
for QAPI, the Quality Assurance &
Performance Improvement,” said
Kohnen Adriance. “The state asked us
to build on what we learned from the
pilot and to integrate a number of other
training opportunities including ones
that OHCA is involved in, like Oregon
Care Partners’ Geriatric Medication
training, to create a comprehensive
how-to quality improvement program for
all types of long term care facilities.”
The second phase program will consist of
six months of curriculum development,
followed by six months of testing and
training within 20 assisted living
facilities and residential care facilities
and another year of extended training
in those facilities and in 40 additional
assisted living, residential care, skilled
nursing, and adult foster home facilities.
CareOregon is encouraging long term
care facilities to apply now to participate
in the program.
“Staff need to have a supportive
environment to deliver quality care.
They need to help each other, have each
other’s backs, and know that their ideas
are heard, and they need to have a voice,”
said Kohnen Adriance. “This training is
a great way for facilities to build these
types of cultures.” 
Rosie Sontheimer is the Communications and Marketing
Specialist at OHCA.
Angela Miles, Marys Woods, participates in the poster session at the final celebration event for CareHomes Wellbeing.
Be a Part of
CareOregon’s
LiveWell
Program
Any assisted living, residential
care, skilled nursing, or adult
foster care facility in Oregon
can apply to be a part of this
innovative training program.
Contact CareOregon’s Barbara
Kohnen Adriance at kohnenb@
careoregon.org to apply.