Cornerstone of Care: Walking in Their Shoes
Virtual Dementia Training
In order to better understand what our Alzheimer's and related dementia residents experience in trying to overcome the challenges of everyday
tasks, all of our dementia care "Cottage Care" associates go through this specialized training. By participating in this program, our
memory caregivers have various senses artificially impaired and then try to accomplish simple daily activities. The result is an understanding,
on a deep and meaningful level, of the difficulty many assisted living memory care residents experience every day.
Memory caregivers wear special eye-wear to simulate impaired vision, have obstructions in their ability to touch, feel and manipulate objects
with their hands, and have their hearing obscured to simulate the many barriers that memory care residents face every day.
The insights gained from this training equip our caregivers to care for our residents with all of the dignity and respect they deserve.
This also allows caregivers to understand better ways to communicate with our residents suffering from Alzheimer's and related dementia
to assist with the activities of daily living.
By walking a mile in our residents’ shoes, the caregivers of Spring Arbor have a dedication and commitment to quality care that is unequaled.
Understanding quality and the quality of understanding – The Spring Arbor difference.
Cornerstones of Care - Validation Therapy
What is Validation Therapy?
This is a communication technique that allows caregivers to better relate to Alzheimer’s/Memory Care residents by connecting with residents
where they are on life’s journey on a given day. For example, if a resident sees themselves as a 35 year old working professional,
then the caregiver joins the resident in their reality. This is primarily accomplished by accepting the values and beliefs of the resident
without confrontation. Trying to reorient a resident to “facts” often is confusing and unsuccessful for the resident. The caregiver
is putting themselves in the shoes of the resident, not simply by trying to move an individual’s attention from one thing to another;
it is also about validating feelings and emotions.
How does it work?
A resident does not want to go to dinner as she states she is waiting on her husband to join her. The caregiver knows that the husband
is deceased. If the caregiver tells the resident that the husband is not coming because he has died, it can often confuse and confound
the resident who may well believe that her spouse has just died. This can cause the resident to grieve her loss all over again.
A better approach using Validation Therapy might be:
Resident: I don’t want to go yet. I am waiting on Charlie to come.
Caregiver: Charlie can’t come to dinner tonight, but I would love it if you joined me for dinner. I would like to hear more about Charlie,
he sounds like a wonderful guy.
Resident: Oh yes, he was a wonderful husband! What are we having for dinner?
The key is to agree with the resident’s wants/needs but gently steer them through conversation to do something else – without the resident
realizing that redirection is occurring.
Cornerstone of Care: Person Centered Not Task Focused
What that means:
At Spring Arbor, Alzheimer's and related dementia caregivers are more concerned with the resident than a task list. This doesn’t mean that
tasks are not important. We believe that residents in our memory "Cottage" system deserve the very best. We also believe that growing
older doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice choices in the aspects of everyday life.
Example:
An Alzheimer's care resident isn’t ready to take a shower when a memory caregiver comes around to assist with this task. Rather than “stick
to the list” the assisted living caregiver skips that resident and goes to another resident. The caregiver then comes back to the first
resident and assists with the shower now that the resident is ready.
At Spring Arbor, we do not believe that needs and choices are necessarily mutually exclusive. Our residents enjoy the ability to communicate
to staff about their wants and desires and actively participate in their care plan. We believe that residents shouldn't have to choose
between Dignity and Care.
Cornerstone of Care:
Engaging the Creative Spirit
Hearts & Harmony
Music is a near-universal language. Our Hearts & Harmony
program includes both individualized and group approaches to
the enjoyment and benefits of music. We create customized
playlists for residents for the times they prefer to enjoy music
on their own, and we employ the power and energy of handdrums
and bells and singing for our lively group sessions. The
Hearts & Harmony program is offered to help promote wellness,
manage stress, alleviate pain, enhance memory and provide
unique opportunities for communication and interaction.
And it’s fun, too!!
Art from the Heart:
This program puts a paintbrush in the hands of
residents who have Alzheimer’s or other memory
impairment. The results are amazing. Residents who
have struggled with even the most modest tasks of
everyday living have astounded all of us with their
creative spirits and wonderful creations.
Through the creativity that is unlocked and presented
through colors and patterns, the residents are speaking
to us with incredible beauty and grace – proving that a
picture is indeed worth a thousand words.
