Person-centred ward climate as experienced by mentally lucid residents in long-term care facilities.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the content validity and reliability of the Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version in long-term care facilities, to describe residents' perceptions of the extent to which their ward climate was person-centred and to explore whether person-centredness was associated with facility and resident characteristics, such as facility and ward size, having a sensory garden and having a primary caregiver.


BACKGROUND
The importance of the physical environment to persons with dementia has been investigated. However, research is lacking regarding the extent to which mentally lucid residents experience their physical and psycho-social ward climate as person-centred and the factors influencing their experience.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey design.


METHODS
The Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version was translated into Norwegian with forward and backward translation. The content validity index for scales was assessed. The Person-centred Climate Questionnaire -Patient version was completed by 145 mentally lucid residents in 17 Norwegian long-term care facilities. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's α and item-total correlations. Test-retest reliability was assessed by paired samples t-test and Spearman's correlation. To explore differences based on facility and resident characteristics, independent-samples t-test and one-way anova were used.


RESULTS
The content validity index for scales was satisfactory. The Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version was internally consistent and had satisfactory test-retest reliability. The climate was experienced as highly person-centred. No significant differences were found, except that residents in larger facilities experienced the climate as more person-centred in relation to everyday activities (subscale 2) than residents in smaller facilities.


CONCLUSIONS
The Norwegian version of the Person-centred Climate Questionnaire-Patient version can be regarded as reliable in a long-term care facility context. Perceived degree of person-centredness was not associated with facility or resident characteristics, such as the number of residents, having a sensory garden or knowing that one has a primary caregiver.


CONCLUSIONS
A person-centred climate can be attained in different kinds of long-term care facilities.
Lovisenberg Diaconal University College, Oslo, Norway.
Ådel
Å
Bergland
Dag
D
Hofoss
Marit
M
Kirkevold
Tove
T
Vassbø
David
D
Edvardsson
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
atmosphere; long-term care facilities; person-centred care; questionnaire; residents; ward climate