Honoring nursing home resident preferences for recreational activities to advance person-centered care.

As long-term service and supports providers shift toward person-centered care, they need timely, efficient tools to gauge whether they are meeting consumer preferences and to identify areas in need of improvement. The Preference Match Tracker is a new tool that measures congruence between a person’s preferences and recreational activities. The Preference Match Tracker can be used to document and track individual recreation preferences and activity attendance, and then produce graphic reports showing how preferences have been met at the individual, household and community level. The article describes the development of the tool and the outcomes of a pilot test in a nursing home community. The Preference Match Tracker provides information that recreation staff can easily interpret and use to enhance the quality of care and quality of life for residents.