Louisiana has joined the national movement to embrace “culture change” through the LEADER (Louisiana Enhancing Aging with Dignity through Empowerment and Respect) network.

According to Pioneer Network, the national organization for culture change: Culture change is the transformation of adult services to consumer-driven and person-directed care. Culture change ensures that the voices of elders and those working with them are considered and respected.

Culture change stresses core person-directed values including choice, dignity, respect, self-determination and purposeful living. The movement supports elder and caregiver choice in both long and short-term living environments.  

Organizational Practices

This change requires shifts in organizational practices, workforce models, physical environments and relationships. In these care settings, culture change leads to better outcomes for consumers and direct care workers.

Another important element to culture change is the shift in language to describe staff, programs, facilities as well as the industry. To coincide with person-directed care, culture change encourages industry leaders to use person-centered language that acknowledges the resident as an individual.

The simple rephrasing of common phrases such as the ones below can make a difference in the goal to person-direct care.

According to Pioneer Network contributor Karen Schoeneman, “the language of long-term care belongs to all of us – not only the ‘us’ who work in this field but, at least as importantly, the elders and others with disabilities who require long-term care services, their families, and the public at large… after all, that’s just a matter of choosing words that are both accurate and respectful…