Eighth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

In New Zealand the aged residential care workforce is poorly paid and has a high turn-over of staff, yet cares for a very vulnerable population. Understanding motivational factors in this workforce has the potential to improve quality of care for residents and caregiver workplace satisfaction. This research aims to explore how caregivers can be encouraged to be engaged in providing care for frail older people. This is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design based on Lewin’s four-step cycle of plan, act, observe and reflect. The study involved staff from a 41 bed aged care facility providing rest home and hospital level care in rural NZ. Caregivers co-designed the action plan which was implemented in the facility. Verbatim transcripts from a design and evaluation meetings were analysed using thematic analysis tools and resulted in a model which describes caregiver workplace engagement. Preliminary findings indicate that if the three factors and the three overlapping experiences identified in the model are evident in the workplace then caregivers are engaged in their work. This model provides greater understanding for aged care facilities wanting to address issues of workforce development, retention of staff and quality of care.