Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T05:25:00.542Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The happiness initiative: Changing organizational culture to make ‘brilliance’ mainstream in aged care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2019

Evonne Miller*
Affiliation:
QUT Design Lab, Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nicole Devlin
Affiliation:
QUT Design Lab, Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Laurie Buys
Affiliation:
QUT Design Lab, Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Geraldine Donoghue
Affiliation:
QUT Design Lab, Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

With the ageing of the population, researchers are investigating the experiences of people living and working in residential aged care. Positive organizational scholarship in healthcare (POSH) and its focus on ‘brilliance’ has not been used as a lens for understanding or improving aged care, although the sector prioritizes person-centred, consumer-directed care. In this qualitative case study, through in-depth interviews, a focus group, and observations, we use a POSH lens to explore how forms of leadership, management structures, and human resource practices facilitate positive experiences for both staff and residents. A thematic data analysis identified the importance of authentic leadership in creating a client-centred organizational culture where ‘happiness’ is an explicit core value. Educating and recruiting staff that share this vision, alongside reflective engagement, rituals and symbols, enabled the building of a responsive care culture that facilitated acts of ‘brilliance’ in healthcare.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brownie, S., & Horstmanshof, L. (2012). Creating the conditions for self-fulfilment for aged care residents. Nursing Ethics, 19(6), 777786.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cameron, K., Dutton, J., & Quinn, R. (2003). Foundations of positive organizational scholarship. In Cameron, K., Dutton, K. J. & Quinn, R. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 313). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.Google Scholar
Cameron, K. S., & Spreitzer, G. M. (2012). Introduction: What is positive about positive organizational scholarship? In Cameron, K. S. & Spreitzer, G. M. (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (pp. 116). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carlson, E., Rämgård, M., Bolmsjö, I., & Bengtsson, M. (2014). Registered nurses' perceptions of their professional work in nursing homes and home-based care: A focus group study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 51, 761767.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dadich, A., Collier, A., & Hodgins, M., & Crawford, G. (2018). Using positive organizational scholarship in healthcare and video reflexive ethnography to examine positive deviance to new public management in healthcare. Qualitative Health Research, 28(8), 12031216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dadich, A., Fulop, L., Ditton, M., Campbell, S., Curry, J., Eljiz, K., Fitzgerald, J., Hayes, K., Herington, C., Isouard, G., Karimi, L., & Smyth, A. (2015). Finding brilliance using positive organizational scholarship in healthcare. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 29(6), 750777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, J., Morgans, A., Birks, M., & Browning, C. (2016). The rhetoric and reality of nursing in aged care: Views from the inside. Contemporary Nurse, 52(2–3), 191203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donoghue, G., & Miller, E. (2016). ‘I understand. I am a participant’: Navigating the ‘fuzzy’ boundaries of visual methods in qualitative longitudinal research. In Warr, D., Guillemin, M., Cox, S. & Waycott, J. (Eds.), Ethics for visual research: Theory, methodology and practice (pp. 129140). London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donoghue, G., Miller, E., & Buys, L. (2017). Using participatory visual methods in aged care: the methodological, logistical and ethical considerations for qualitative research practice. SAGE Online Research Case, online. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526419613CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etherton-Beer, C., Venturato, L., & Horner, B. (2013). Organizational culture in residential aged care facilities: A cross-sectional observational study. PLoS One, 8(3), e58002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karimi, L., Dadich, A., Fulop, L.., Leggat, S., Rada, J., Hayes, K., Kippist, L., Eljiz, K., Smyth, A., & Fitzgerald, J. (2017). Empirical exploration of brilliance in health care: Perceptions of health professionals. Australian Health Review, 41, 336343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Killett, A., Burns, D., Kelly, F., Brooker, D., Bowes, A., La Fontaine, J., Latham, I., Wilson, M., & O'Neill, M. (2016) Digging deep: How organizational culture affects care home residents' experiences. Ageing and Society, 36(1), 160188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkley, C., Bamford, C., Poole, M., Arksey, H., Hughes, J., & Bond, J. (2011). The impact of organizational culture on the delivery of person-centred care in services providing respite care and short breaks for people with dementia. Health & Social Care in the Community, 19(4), 438448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laschinger, H. K., Wong, C. A., & Grau, A. L. (2012). The influence of authentic leadership on newly graduated nurses’ experiences of workplace bullying, burnout and retention outcomes: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies 49, 12661276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, S. (2011). Positive psychology at work: How positive leadership and appreciative inquiry create inspiring organizations. West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Miller, E., Buys, L., & Donoghue, G. (2019). Photovoice in aged care: What do residents value? Australasian Journal of Ageing, online early access, 15. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12641.Google ScholarPubMed
Parker, D. (2011). Residential aged care facilities places for living and dying. Cultural Studies Review, 17(1), 3151.Google Scholar
Petriwskyj, A., Gibson, A., & Webby, G. (2014). Participation and power in care: Exploring the ‘client’ in client engagement. Journal of Aging Studies, 31, 119–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prince, D., & Butler, D. (2007). Clarity final report: Aging in place in america. Nashville, TN: Prince Market Research.Google Scholar
Rice, P., & Ezzy, D. (1999). Qualitative research methods: A health focus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Seligman, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology. American Psychologist, 55(1), 514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seligman, M. E. (2010). Flourish. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Snoeren, M., Janssen, B., Niessen, T., & Abma, T. (2016). Nurturing cultural change in care for older people: Seeing the cherry tree blossom. Health Care Analysis, 24(4), 349373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sjögren, K., Lindkvist, M., Sandman, P., Zingmark, K., & Edvardsson, D. (2017). Organizational and environmental characteristics of residential aged care units providing highly person-centred care: A cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing, 16, 4452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tong, A., Sainsbury, P., & Craig, J. (2007). Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): A 32-item chicklist for interviews and focus groups. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 19(16), 349357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed