Partnership to Enhance Resident Outcomes for Community Living Center Residents With Dementia: Description of the Protocol and Preliminary Findings.

This is a protocol and early implementation report, not a completed effectiveness study; the primary outcome is documentation of goals-of-care conversations and life-sustaining treatment plans. The pilot described only four family/surrogate decision-makers in two CLCs, so the examples are descriptive and cannot show that the meetings work. The intervention is multicomponent, including staff-family meetings, the Pleasant Events Schedule, goals-of-care conversations, life-sustaining treatment documentation, site champions, webinars, learning collaboratives, audit and feedback, and action planning; the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Sites were VA Community Living Centers serving Veterans, so the process may not transfer to other long-term care settings. Implementation faced scheduling, staff buy-in, turnover, and competing responsibilities. Ongoing support was needed to address them.

Do not conclude that the Partnership Program improves resident outcomes. The paper describes a protocol and early implementation with four family/surrogate decision-makers; its primary outcome is documentation of goals-of-care conversations and life-sustaining treatment plans, and no effectiveness results are reported.