Person-centred collaboration with relatives in long-term care facilities

In Switzerland, around 65% of people in long-term care have dementia, which is associated with individual suffering and a high overall care requirement. There is international consensus that ‘person-centred care’ is the gold standard in long-term care. It is noteworthy that no comprehensive systematic efforts have been made in German-speaking countries to promote the implementation of this approach in long-term care.

In the context of the socio-political challenges in the field of long-term care, such as underfunding and staff shortages, collaboration with relatives requires immediate attention. ERNA will address this by promoting person-centred practices in Swiss nursing homes to improve team functionality and foster collaboration with relatives.

The aim of this study is to enable teams in Swiss nursing homes to work with relatives in a person-centred way.

The study will be conducted in two phases:

1. Development of a framework for person-centred collaboration with relatives in Swiss nursing homes through the participation of those concerned and the public.

2. Testing a person-centred intervention to promote cooperation with relatives in Swiss nursing homes.