Positive Interaction Strategies among Nursing Home Staff

​​In a study using observation, interviews, and document review, positive interaction strategies among nursing home staff and managers facilitated social interconnection, information exchange, and diversity of mental models for problem solving, which enabled better resident care, reports a study published June 5, 2014, in BMC Health Services Research. However, staff and managers most often used interaction strategies that "limited engagement with others or engendered feelings of disrespect," the authors write. The researchers conducted case studies over six months in four nursing homes, two of higher quality and two of lower quality (as indicated by state regulatory surveys). The authors described interaction strategies that they observed and that staff reported that could help or hinder resident outcomes. They then categorized the strategies into two groups, the common pattern and the positive pattern.