The Group Home Culture Scale: Validation and Use in Predicting Quality of Staff Support in Group Homes

Introduction: The Group Home Culture Scale (GHCS) was developed to measure organisational culture in supported accommodation services(i.e., group homes) for people with intellectual disabilities. The first aim was to test the factor structure of the GHCS, which had been developed through a process of literature review and initial testing. The second aim was to identify which of the seven subscales most strongly predicts the quality of staff support.
Methods: Using data from 337 frontline staff, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factor structure of the GHCS. Multilevel modelling, which allows for the inclusion of individual and group level data, was used to examine associations between the quality of staff support and the seven GHCS subscales.
Results: Acceptable fit between the hypothesised seven factor model and the data was found, indicating that the scale tapped underlying constructs of group home culture it was designed to measure. Of the subscales, Supporting Well-Being was found to mostly strongly predict the quality of staff support.
Implications: This study provides support for the validity of the GHCS to assess organisational culture in group homes. The findings have implications for improving the quality of staff support.