Quality of life in long term care (LTC) is a concern for many stakeholders. The elders who are living in LTC facilities, their families, the staff, and government and policy makers are all interested in providing quality care and quality of life to those persons living within the facility. Culture change is one way for LTC facilities to begin to give decision making to the residents, and to increase quality of life of these elders. There are different culture change models that embrace the concept of person-centered care. No matter which model is chosen, the essence of the change is moving from a medical care model to a person-centered care model.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a culture change intervention, teaching person-centered care to certified nursing assistants (CNA), on the quality of life (QOL) of alert and oriented residents living in a LTC facility. The elders, identified as alert and oriented by a score of 25 or greater on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), participated in a QOL questionnaire. Two one hour in-services on person-centered care were presented to the CNAs. The QOL questionnaire was re-administered to the elder participants after three months.

The results illustrated that teaching person-centered care to CNAs showed significant improvement in the areas of dignity and security, and marginal significance in the area of individuality. This suggests the elder's increased feeling of respect from the staff, as well as an increased sense of belonging and confidence in the availability and assistance of the staff members. It also suggests the elders felt that they were known as individual persons and that their preferences were honored.