Promoting partnership with older people through quality assurance systems: Issues arising in care homes

This paper reports on a study in which a quality assurance package was introduced into 11 care homes for older people and evaluated. The package (Qual A Sess) has two features. First, it is designed to provide a mechanism for self-regulation, by providing homes with a framework for assessing care and services in a systematic way. Second, it promotes the participation of residents in the quality process, by including them as members of self-assessment teams. A case study methodology was used to evaluate the process of introduction, and this paper focuses on data from older people which describes their views about participation. The paper concludes that skills in communication and assessment, and sensitivity to individual needs and problems is required in order to facilitate meaningful participation from older people.