Abstract

Background: Existing research supports the effectiveness of person-centred practices in working with persons with physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities, but less clear is the influence of workplace factors on the implementation and quality of person-centred practices.

Aims: This article explores the influence of workplace factors on job satisfaction and on the implementation and quality of person-centred practices in healthcare agencies that provide home- and community-based services through a Medicaid waiver in Mississippi, a state in the southeastern United States.

Methods: Purposive sampling was used to collect data via online surveys to explore the interrelationships among person-centred workplaces, job satisfaction and person-centred practices.

Results: Path analysis reveals that a person-centred workplace influences both skill implementation and person-centred processes. Job satisfaction was significantly correlated to skill implementation and person-centred processes in bivariate analysis but was not detected in the path model.

Conclusion: This study suggests that organisations may improve the provision of person-centred practices by investing in policies that create a person-centred workplace.

Implications for practice:

• A person-centred workplace environment is a critical factor that influences person-centred practices and job satisfaction among employees
• Adapting practices to be person-centred should occur at every level of an organisation
• Social care organisations should maintain continuous assessments of person-centredness to ensure a person-centred workplace where employees consistently use person-centred skills and processes with the people whom they support

This article by Bret Blackmon, Joohee Lee, Rebecca Bain, B. Michelle Brazeal, Courtney Williams and Yolanda Green is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License.