The ethical status of nursing homes is deeply affected by their cultural image. For a culture with deep anti-institutional biases and often romanticized versions of “family” and the freedoms of “home,” nursing homes are especially suspect (Collopy & Boyles, 1991). They are “total institutions” where personal freedom, privacy, and range of choice have little chance (Collopy & Boyles, 1991).

  However, the picture is changing. While many nursing homes still do function like impersonal and regimented institutions, over the last decade, a grassroots movement in long-term care known as “culture change,” or “resident-centered care,” has begun to spread throughout the country (Haran, 2006). Moody originally wrote Chapters 7 & 8 in the late 1980s when this movement was just beginning and thus he doesn’t discuss “culture change” in your textbook.

Does “culture change” embrace Moody’s Negotiated Consent model? Why or why not?

Support your statements with evidence from the Required Studies and your research. Cite and reference your sources in APA style.

References

Collopy, B. & Boyles, P. (1991). New directions in nursing home ethics, Hastings Center Report

Haran, C. (2006). Transforming Long-Term Care: Giving Residents a Place to Call “Home”, The Commonwealth Fund.

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A Closer Look at Culture Change