Leeds Beckett University helping develop effective workplace learning in care homes

Over 370,000 people live in over 15,000 care homes in the UK. Having skilled staff is important for delivery of high-quality care. This requires care homes to provide an environment where staff can learn to deliver care effectively and are able to put learning from training into practice. There is currently limited evidence on what effective learning environments in care homes look like or how to best implement them.

Now, a team led by Professor Claire Surr, Director of the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University, and Dr Isabelle Latham, Researcher in Residence at Hallmark Luxury Care Homes, will be working with staff, residents and families to look at what makes a supportive and inclusive learning environment in a care home and importantly, how care homes can make this a reality. The research team also includes members from The Universities of Kent, Bournemouth, Leeds and Bradford, The National Care Forum and people with lived experience of receiving care in care homes.

Professor Surr said: "Care staff need the right knowledge and skills to deliver good care. We often think of this as being largely provided through formal training. However, learning in care homes tends to be shaped by many other factors including the workplace culture, leadership, resources and policies, and the majority of learning may actually take place through informal learning opportunities such as shadowing and mentoring and on-the-job experience. This may explain why care home staff report that it can be difficult to put formal training into practice, if it doesn't fit with what they are learning informally."

Dr Latham said "I'm delighted that this study will build on my previous doctoral research to explore how informal and formal learning opportunities work together in care homes. From this we will produce a free, practical toolkit that will help care homes to improve staff learning, care quality and workplace culture, meaning that residents of these homes receive the best possible care. We also hope that providing a supportive workplace learning environment can improve staff confidence and job satisfaction, which may help to tackle the known challenges of staff recruitment and retention the sector is facing."

Care homes in Yorkshire, Kent, East London, Bournemouth and the South-West will be invited to take part in the study. The findings of the three-year study will be shared nationally with care providers, policy makers and sector organisations.