Ranked number 1 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Social Dimensions in Aging peer review committee, Dr. Lisa Cranley has been awarded a project grant for her study “Implementing an intervention to foster meaningful engagement and shared decision-making among residents, families and healthcare teams in long-term care: A mixed methods approach.” This 2.5-year grant supports Dr. Cranley’s research to develop and assess the suitability of a shared decision-making strategy to engage residents of long-term care facilities, many of whom have Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, their family member (substitute decision-maker), and the healthcare team in a collaborative approach to decisions about resident care.
At present time, the potential for shared-decision making strategies in long-term care is underdeveloped. Research has shown that resident and family member involvement in care decisions is inconsistent, and their role in decision-making is often unclear. Facilitating meaningful engagement of residents and family members in care decisions is an important part of supporting relationship-centered, high-quality care, and may lead to improved resident and staff outcomes.
Dr. Cranley is an Assistant Professor at Bloomberg Nursing. Her research aims to improve the quality of health care delivery to older adults in long-term care. Her research is focused in knowledge translation, particularly in the area of developing strategies to facilitate and support shared decision-making in long-term care. Dr. Cranley uses qualitative and mixed methods approaches in her research. Visit her profile to learn more.