An Accelerated Approach to Culture Change:
The Village of Wentworth Heights is a 120-bed LTC home in Hamilton, ON owned by Schlegel Villages and is also a PiDC Alliance Culture Change partner.
Wentworth Heights’ Appreciative Inquiry journey for culture change was undertaken as part of a larger corporate initiative within the Schlegel Villages organization. The Village of Wentworth Heights Culture Change Team is called Reaching For New Heights (RFNH). Like Yee Hong, Huron County, and Bloomington Cove sites, this team includes residents, family partners in care, team members from all levels, departments, and shifts.
As part of the larger corporate process, members of the RFNH team participated in a 3-day Appreciative Inquiry summit in Fall 2010 which included staff, residents, and family partners in care. RFNH used an accelerated method of Appreciative Inquiry (compared to other PiDC Alliance sites). At the summit, this group worked to: 1) discover their strengths; 2) share their dreams for a more ideal future; and 3) design aspiration statements to put their dreams into words. Since the summit, the RFNH has worked together to develop goals and action steps to turn their aspirations into operational realities.
RFNH is at the Delivery phase, sometimes called the Destiny phase of the project. Below, are the Aspiration Statements selected by RFNH and a photo of staffer Christine Legacy, wearing a t-shirt showing RFNH’s 'Aspiration Statements’ at an Education Day event.
Culture Change Aspiration Statements at The Village of Wentworth Heights:
- Flexible Living— residents have choice about when to sleep, wake and participate in activities.
- Flexible Dining— residents have more choice in when and what they eat.
- Shared and Meaningful Activities--expanding the variety and scope of structured and unstructured leisure activities