PHI’s Ortigara Discusses Power and Culture Change at Provider Event
The “second phase of the culture change movement” in nursing homes must focus on the “empowerment of the elders and empowerment of staff,” PHI Organizational Change Consultant Anna Ortigara recently told an audience in Austin, Texas.
Ortigara was one of nine speakers who gave LED (Lead, Engage, Discover) Talks at the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) Quality Symposium in Austin on February 23. Provider magazine, which is published by AHCA/NCAL, curated the LED Talks.
The theme of Ortigara’s LED Talk was “Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.”
In it, she recalled her time working in nursing homes during an era when culture change was a frequent topic of theoretical discussion, but was not yet widely seen in nursing homes.
Today, she said, culture change is more broadly accepted, but nursing home supervisors and managers need to strive to become “coaching leaders” in order to imbue a sense of empowerment in direct-care staff — and, by extension, residents.
“The time is now for the second phase of the culture change movement,” Ortigara says. Nursing home leaders must believe “that the people who are in direct relationship with elders are smart and capable and resourceful.”
Videos of the nine LED Talks were added to the Provider website earlier this month.
