Explore our tip sheets for guidance on creating a culture of preference based care. Tip sheets address a spectrum of everyday practice issues–from how to get started with preference assessment to interviewing techniques, working with family and staff proxies, designing effective care plans and more. Most tip sheets have a companion pre-recorded webinar that can be viewed on demand. Thanks to generous grant funding, all resources are available for download at no cost.

As You Wish Program

Through creative teamwork and fundraising, the As You Wish Program creates treasured moments for residents by honoring special preferences that go beyond the everyday. Use this tip sheet as a guide to start an innovative program that is rewarding for the older adults, staff and volunteers in your community.

As You Wish Program

Do Resident Preferences Change Over Time?

Nursing home residents’ preferences tend to remain stable for at least a three-month period, allowing for reliable and predictable care planning. Yet changes in health and function or other factors can cause a person’s preferences to change over time. Learn about best practices to assess preferences initially as well as to be responsive to shifts and customize care accordingly.

Do Resident Preferences Change Over Time?

Ensuring Resident Choice

What steps are important to build an organizational culture that prioritizes and honors older adults’ preferences and choices? This tip sheet recommends methods to incorporate resident choices in care plans, address obstacles to individual choice, and involve resident councils, families and care team members in honoring preferences and personalizing care.

Ensuring Resident Choice

Getting Started: PELI Performance Improvement Project (PELI-PIP)

Once you’ve decided to focus on preferences assessment and services as part of your community’s QAPI program, make sure you have ingredients in place for success. This tip sheet walks through the initial steps: assure that you have top management support, establish a PELI-PIP committee, and introduce concepts of preference assessment and fulfillment to everyone involved.

Getting Started: PELI Performance Improvement Project (PELI-PIP)

Helping Staff Engage

This tip sheet recommends strategies to build staff commitment in learning about individual preferences, encourage team communication — and most importantly, how to use preference information to enhance each older adult’s daily life. Also, find answers to common staff questions about preference based care.

Helping Staff Engage

Holiday Gift Giving

Giving gifts is one of the top preferences for older adults receiving long-term services and support. This guide shares inexpensive, easy-to-implement ideas to honor the desire to give gifts during the holiday season. Spread the flow of good feeling that comes with simple gifts!

Holiday Gift Giving

Honoring Preferences During Quarantine

While restricting interactions among individuals can prevent the spread of illness, quarantines are difficult for residents, staff, and family. This tip sheet provides some ideas for ways to honor resident […]

Honoring Preferences During Quarantine

Integrating Preferences into Care Plans

This tip sheet walks care team members through the steps to create strengths based care plans to honor preferences and dignity. Topics include: involving direct care workers in care planning, tailoring activities, case scenarios and staying alert to change.

Integrating Preferences into Care Plans

Interview Tips

This tip sheet provides training “basics” for staff and volunteers who will conduct PELI preference interviews. Learn how to set up and begin interviews, record answers, and offer prompts to encourage full responses. Preference interviews are a chance to get to know individuals better and build meaningful relationships that improve quality of life and quality of care.

Interview Tips

Overview: Using the PELI for Your Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Program

Nursing homes are required to implement Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) programs that lead to better quality of care and quality of life for residents. This tip sheet outlines how to use the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory (PELI) assessment tool as the basis for a QAPI project to promote person-centered care.

Overview: Using the PELI for Your Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Program

PELI-PIP – PDSA Cycle

Use the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle to carry out your performance improvement project: understand your organization’s vision, priorities and current status; choose a specific aspect of preference assessment or services to improve first; implement the project; assess the results; and keep on going! Find useful checklists and planning templates to guide your organization during each phase.

PELI-PIP – PDSA Cycle