The influence of care provider access to structural empowerment on individualized care in long-term-care facilities

Objectives. Implementing, management initiatives [hat enable formal caregivers to provide quality. individualized Care to older adults ill long-term-care (LTC) facilities is increasingly important given that the number of LTC residents, is T projected to triple by 2031. The objective of this Study was to explore the relationship between care provider access to structural empowerment and the provision Of individualized care in LTC. Methods. We computed Structural equation models separately for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses (n = 242) and care aides (n = 326) to examine the relationship between access to empowerment Structures (i.e., informal power, formal power. information, Support, resources, opportunity) and the provision of individualized care. We sub-sequently undertook undertook invariance analyses to determine if the association between empowerment structures and reported provision of individualized care differed between caregiver goups. Results. Access to structural empowerment had a statistically significant, positive association with provision of individualized care for both groups. For registered nurses/licensed practical nurses and care aides, empowerment explained 50% and 45% of observed valiance in individualized care, respectively. These notable percentages did not differ significantly between caregiver groups. Discussion. Of the empowerment structures, support, especially in the form of access to educational Opportunities and recognition for a job well done, seems 10 be particularly significant to care providers. Findings from this study suggest that provision of individualized care in LTC may be enhanced when formal caregivers have appreciable access to empoverment structures.