Implementing a restorative care philosophy of care in assisted living: pilot testing of Res-Care-AL.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to pilot test the feasibility of the Restorative Care for Assisted Living (Res-Care-AL) intervention. Res-Care-AL is a nurse-initiated intervention using a social ecological model and self-efficacy (SE)-based approach to implement a restorative care intervention for nursing home residents.

Data sources: Resident and nursing assistant (NA) outcome measures were obtained at baseline and 4 months postintervention. Resident outcomes included SE and outcome expectations, physical activity, function, resilience, social support for exercise, grip strength, and gait and balance, fear of falling, and quality of life. Outcomes associated with the NAs included SE and outcome expectations and knowledge and performance of restorative care.

Conclusions: At 4 months, the residents had better function (p = .05), grip strength (p = .05), and time spent in physical activity (p = .01). The NAs had a significant improvement in outcome expectations (p = .02) and a nonsignificant improvement in knowledge (p = .06), SE (p = .09), and performance of restorative care activities (p = .82).

Implications for practice: Nurse practitioners can effectively implement and facilitate restorative care interventions in AL settings using a theoretically based model and a nursing team.