The Seniors Quality Leap Initiative (SQLI): An International Collaborative to Improve Quality in Long-Term Care

OBJECTIVES: To describe an innovative Canadian and US community of practice that employs empirical evidence based on risk-adjusted indicators to guide collaborative initiatives to improve the quality of care in nursing homes. DESIGN: Ongoing study of quality of care related to pain management in nursing home residents using clinical assessment records. SETTING: and Participants: Nursing home residents in 14 organizations in Canada and the United States between 2014 and 2017. The most recent analytic samples for quality indicator calculation involve 11,123 unique residents in 68 homes associated with 12 different long-term care organizations. MEASURES: Assessment data on pain and associated risk adjusters were obtained from the RAI/MDS 2.0 and MDS 3.0 assessments in Canadian and US nursing homes, respectively. RESULTS: The Seniors Quality Leap Initiative has been functioning as an active community of practice for almost a decade with the aim of demonstrating leadership in the use of collaborative approaches to drive evidence-informed improvements in the quality of long-term care. Initiatives with a specific emphasis on improving care related to pain resulted in notable improvements in quality of clinical care in specific homes as well as within the network as a whole. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The Seniors Quality Leap Initiative demonstrates that a partnership between organizations in 2 countries can foment quality transitions through a shared commitment to identifying needs; employing flexible, but practical initiatives; and evaluating the impact of those initiatives through a transparent reporting mechanism.