The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living has launched a four-part virtual program that equips long-term care leaders with trust-building skills and practices to continue to increase vaccine uptake, improve infection prevention and control and staff retention.
“The pace of change and uncertainty that facilities have faced since the beginning of the pandemic, including an unprecedented workforce crisis, has been overwhelming, resulting in a growing distrust with all aspects of health care that has affected our interactions with one another,” said Dr. David Gifford, Chief Medical Officer at AHCA/NCAL, and board-certified gerontologist.
“What is exciting about our new course is that it really addresses this issue of trust. Trust building creates this essential foundation for facilities and their teams to adapt and thrive in times of continuous change, which ultimately leads to a stronger operation that allows for further improvements in care and outcomes, added Gifford.”
Watch this 3 minute video to learn more.
Building Trust Courses
Lesson 1: Introduction to The Three Drivers of Trust for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake
In this lesson, they will introduce the three drivers of trust: empathy, logic and authenticity. They will discuss what leaners need to do to build trust on your teams and organizations, particularly when forms of inequity are present. Leaners will discuss ways to address the historical and present-day impact of racism and other inequities experienced by staff who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color. We will explore how to design and execute a strategy to build trust at scale – for all levels of staff, on all shifts, and across departments, even when facing staffing challenges. Learners will engage champions and share leadership to build trust person-by-person in long-term care facilities. We will explore how to get the most out of the course and summarize how the methods support learners to build trust in real time to improve staff COVID-19 vaccine uptake, staff wellbeing and resident safety.
In this lesson, learners will explore the practices of empathy. Empathy is experienced as “I believe you care about me.” Learners will be able to describe techniques to enhance your expression of empathy such as when to use open-honest questions and how to formulate them. We will practice skills such as listening for understanding (rather than responding). We will discuss how to avoid the temptation to “fix” or “solve” other people’s problems or respond immediately to their concerns, and instead respond with curiosity and interest in the person’s experiences and seek to understand their perspective. Finally, we will combine these practices as we use the five steps of a one-to-one meeting.
Logic is experienced as “Your reasoning and judgment are sound.” This requires effective communication. In this lesson, we will learn how to communicate your logic effectively to build trust among staff and colleagues. Learners will also explore strategies for responding to misinformation and practice using these strategies in trust-building conversations. We will address the presence of cultural differences and historical racism and other inequities that can impact how individuals process information.
Authenticity is experienced as “I experience the real you.” In this lesson, learners will discuss how to create conditions for authenticity in your organization. This includes connecting people to shared values through skills such as asking “what matters to you” questions, articulating your personal “why” and naming common values. You will also explore psychological safety as a strategy to encourage authenticity. Learners will examine what psychological safety is and the outcomes associated with a psychologically safe work environment, including the organizational and individual benefits associated with learning, risk management, innovation, and job satisfaction.
Lesson 5: Advancing Trust In Your Building (Optional)
Questions? Contact the AHCA/NCAL team at BuildingTrust@ahca.org