Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context

Culturally responsive care is essential to meaningful relationship-building in long-term care (LTC) settings, yet there is limited understanding of how Relationship-Centered Care (RCC) is interpreted and enacted in contexts shaped by shared cultural frameworks. This critical ethnographic study exami...

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Main Authors: Shreemouna Gurung, Habib Chaudhury, Pia Kontos, Atiya Mahmood, Deborah O'Connor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:SSM: Qualitative Research in Health
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321525000988
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author Shreemouna Gurung
Habib Chaudhury
Pia Kontos
Atiya Mahmood
Deborah O'Connor
author_facet Shreemouna Gurung
Habib Chaudhury
Pia Kontos
Atiya Mahmood
Deborah O'Connor
author_sort Shreemouna Gurung
collection DOAJ
description Culturally responsive care is essential to meaningful relationship-building in long-term care (LTC) settings, yet there is limited understanding of how Relationship-Centered Care (RCC) is interpreted and enacted in contexts shaped by shared cultural frameworks. This critical ethnographic study examines how RCC practices unfolded within an ethno-specific LTC home serving predominantly Chinese older adults in Vancouver, drawing on document review, participant observation, and interviews with residents, families, and staff. Four key themes were identified: (1) Caring like family (i.e., building trust through kinship-based language and emotional familiarity); (2) Honoring roots (i.e., integrating residents’ cultural identities into care); (3) Recreation and celebrations (i.e., fostering belonging through culturally meaningful activities); and (4) Collaboration as the heart of care (i.e., reinforcing reciprocity through resident-family-staff partnerships). These findings illustrate how culturally grounded practices shape the interpretation and enactment of RCC in everyday care. Future research should explore how RCC operates in more culturally heterogeneous settings and use inclusive methods to amplify the voices of diverse residents.
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spelling doaj-art-8e01f69efd7749c89e4456edf68cf9c32025-08-20T05:08:07ZengElsevierSSM: Qualitative Research in Health2667-32152025-12-01810062010.1016/j.ssmqr.2025.100620Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific contextShreemouna Gurung0Habib Chaudhury1Pia Kontos2Atiya Mahmood3Deborah O'Connor4Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Corresponding author. Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, 515 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3, Canada.Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, CanadaKITE Research Institute – University Health Network, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, CanadaSchool of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaCulturally responsive care is essential to meaningful relationship-building in long-term care (LTC) settings, yet there is limited understanding of how Relationship-Centered Care (RCC) is interpreted and enacted in contexts shaped by shared cultural frameworks. This critical ethnographic study examines how RCC practices unfolded within an ethno-specific LTC home serving predominantly Chinese older adults in Vancouver, drawing on document review, participant observation, and interviews with residents, families, and staff. Four key themes were identified: (1) Caring like family (i.e., building trust through kinship-based language and emotional familiarity); (2) Honoring roots (i.e., integrating residents’ cultural identities into care); (3) Recreation and celebrations (i.e., fostering belonging through culturally meaningful activities); and (4) Collaboration as the heart of care (i.e., reinforcing reciprocity through resident-family-staff partnerships). These findings illustrate how culturally grounded practices shape the interpretation and enactment of RCC in everyday care. Future research should explore how RCC operates in more culturally heterogeneous settings and use inclusive methods to amplify the voices of diverse residents.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321525000988Relationship-centered careEthno-specific long-term careOlder adultsCritical ethnographyCulturally grounded care
spellingShingle Shreemouna Gurung
Habib Chaudhury
Pia Kontos
Atiya Mahmood
Deborah O'Connor
Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context
SSM: Qualitative Research in Health
Relationship-centered care
Ethno-specific long-term care
Older adults
Critical ethnography
Culturally grounded care
title Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context
title_full Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context
title_fullStr Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context
title_full_unstemmed Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context
title_short Transforming long-term care: Understanding relationship-centered care practices in ethno-specific context
title_sort transforming long term care understanding relationship centered care practices in ethno specific context
topic Relationship-centered care
Ethno-specific long-term care
Older adults
Critical ethnography
Culturally grounded care
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321525000988
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AT atiyamahmood transforminglongtermcareunderstandingrelationshipcenteredcarepracticesinethnospecificcontext
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