It’s 2017 – what is YOUR Organization’s Dementia Care plan

January 3, 2017 Pam Brandon Leave a comment

Travel, services and international business concept with a globe and international flags of the world on white background.

Bupa, the largest international provider of specialist dementia care and Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), the global federation of Alzheimer’s associations, in 2013, joined forces to publish a global report to urge policy-makers to create National Dementia Plans. According to Bupa and ADI, plans help governments ensure that health and social care systems are adequately structured and funded to ensure high quality care and support be available to people living with dementia today and in the future.

Their analysis provides an insight into the content of existing National Dementia Plans and advice on how to develop one, and review factors that might affect implementation. Based on analysis, the report advises on developing a plan and reviews factors that might affect implementation. The first category of Best Practice was that of Content, which includes:

Improve awareness and education
Improve (early) diagnosis and treatment
Improve support available at home
Strengthen support available to family members
Improve residential/institutional care
Better integrate care pathways and the coordination of care
Improve training for healthcare professionals
Monitor progress
Commitment to research
Recognize the role of innovative technologies

We believe this is an excellent checklist for any organization to build their own comprehensive Dementia Plan. While government initiatives are certainly important, their is urgency across the spectrum of elder and healthcare spectrum to implement plans now.

As we look at 2017, it is our hope that every institution of higher learning be placing dementia education for clinicians, medical students, and allied health professionals at the top of their list; that eldercare providers empower each and every front line caregiver with tools to improve communications and care practices to improve resident’s quality of life; that non-profits engage outreach family education programs that provides support, and helps reduces stress for families struggling to deal with the challenges of living with dementia; and that every hospital has solid action plans in place to become dementia friendly in 2017.

A plan is just that – the structure with which to take the next step of outcomes-driven transformation and positive change. We look forward to a great year of collaboration as we usher in a year of innovation in dementia care training.

Bupa.com/dementia

Alz.co.uk

Senior Care Professionals

Memory Care: Events are forgotten, but feelings linger

December 29, 2016 Ann Catlin 1 Comment

Feelings linger in memory care — Feelings linger.

For people in memory care, emotions may outlast memory of the event that triggered the emotion. This is according to a study by Justin Feinstein. In other words, if a person with dementia has a happy experience, say from a family visit, he will continue to feel happy for a period of time even though he forgets the actual visit. The same goes for sad or angry feelings. Memory care professionals sometimes question if their efforts have a lasting effect. Insight from this study suggests that yes, they do.

Families often avoid visiting loved ones with dementia, assuming that the visit won’t be remembered. They ask, So what difference does it make? If emotion lingers even after the memory is gone, then it might make a big difference.

While the elder may not remember the visit, pleasurable feelings it elicits live on even though the person can’t say why she feels good. This is important information for families. Their visits positively impact quality of life—the feelings of connection lives on! Anyone with a loved one with dementia, perhaps the most important thing is to show up and create positive moments. Step outside in the sunshine, share music, hold hands, look at flowers. Activities don’t need to be elaborate. Anything that creates pleasure may make a lasting difference.

As Maya Angelo says, “They won’t remember what you said but they’ll remember how you made them feel.”

Senior Care Professionals

Education – the Key to Empowerment for Senior Care Professionals

December 27, 2016 Pam Brandon Leave a comment

head key You’ve heard the expression Knowledge is Power. When it comes to caring for an aging adult, the key to empowerment clearly resides in education.

Why is it then, with the amount of information that is available at our fingertips that families and professionals are lacking in skills that are necessary to improve care and quality of life?

A better question might be HOW are we educating others? We’ve gone to lack of education to information overload but we are still faced with the same challenges. Google dementia, Alzheimer’s, training, family caregiver in any combination and pages of information will pop up. Research varies on how much of what we read actually sticks, that is information that we remember but my guess is that all this information is not making a huge impacts in empowering the masses to improve care for aging adults, especially those living with dementia.

We’re excited to be expanding our network of Master Trainers in 2017. Bringing together passionate people who believe that education and training is absolutely essential to meeting the growing numbers of healthcare professionals, eldercare providers and families who are and will be caring for aging loved ones.

High stress, limited access to support, difficult family situations and lack of understanding collectively (and singularly) can have a huge effect on how much we learn and apply at any given time. This is why we believe experiential education and training is so much more effective in creative transformative change within the eldercare sphere.

Our Master Trainers bring quality, hands-on education through the delivery of research-based innovative programs in the dementia education arena. Dementia Live and Compassionate Touch are changing how we care for those we serve, providing the keys to empowerment and transformative change in the aging world.

We change attitudes and actions and look forward to a new year of growing, expanding and educating others.

Senior Care Professionals

Compassion Fatigue: How to Know if you Care Too Much

December 22, 2016 Ann Catlin 1 Comment

Senior and Hospice care professional compassion fatigue — Compassion fatigue impact

Anyone senior care or hospice professional can experience Compassion Fatigue. Nurses, doctors, counselors, veterinarians, therapists, social workers, chaplains, emergency response workers, and people caring for aging parents are vulnerable.

Dr. Charles Figley, an expert on the subject, describes Compassion Fatigue as, “ a state experienced by those helping people in distress; it is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it is traumatizing for the helper.” He goes on to say that “The capacity for compassion and empathy seems to be at the core of our ability to do the work and at the core of our ability to be wounded by the work”.

Compassionate fatigue results from the cumulative impact of taking care of people living with serious illness, trauma, abuse, or severe conditions.” It’s different than job burnout, which is dissatisfaction with our employment situation, not necessarily the work itself.

Compassion is our feelings and thoughts when we witness the suffering of another and the desire to alleviate the suffering. Sometimes we confuse compassion with attachment, which is our own personal investment in the outcome of the situation. In other words, when we think we feel compassion we are actually wrapped up in our own emotional needs rather than the needs of the other person. Perhaps it’s attachment that leads to compassion fatigue, not compassion itself.

A perfect illustration involves Jane, a therapist working in a nursing home. She describes walking into an elder’s room and feeling stunned by what she saw—an extremely thin, emaciated woman with severe bruising and discoloration on her arms and legs sitting in her wheelchair, alone.

Jane described her first reaction as fear which turned to sadness for this woman’s condition and knowing that she really couldn’t do anything to change it. But she conjured up the courage to stay present and focused her attention on this woman rather than the outer condition. The fear softened. She gently stroked the woman’s shoulders and she told Jane, “That feels good.” Jane shared that following the visit instead of fear she felt good knowing she had made a difference by connecting with this woman. She was able to drop the attachment to the fear and sadness which allowed her to be present and both she and the woman were uplifted in the process.

How can you recognize compassionate fatigue?

Some of the symptoms may seem like “normal” stress responses and you may associate them with your work. After all, we live in a pretty stressful world these days. Some characteristics of compassion fatigue include:

Withdrawing from others
Difficulty connecting with clients- detaching
Feeling angry that other caregivers don’t understand the nature of your service
Life feels too serious
Turning to compulsive or addictive behaviors such as overeating, overspending, alcohol, smoking, etc.
Physical symptoms: headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle tension.
Fatigue and apathy
Difficulty concentrating
Avoiding clients. Calling in sick or postponing appointments
Thinking that this work isn’t for you (when you know in your heart you really love it)

It’s important to recognize the symptoms so that we avoid reactions or relieve them if they arise. The answer lies in self-care. Training about self-care typically includes physical support like regular exercise, getting enough sleep and good nutrition. However we shouldn’t stop there. Nancy Jo Bush, an oncology nurse, says that self-care also includes setting empathetic boundaries; self awareness and self forgiveness; being in tune with one’s spirituality and finding hope. The experts agree that reaching out to others and developing a support system is critical, therefore, who would you turn to if you needed the support of an understanding friend?

One hospice professional advises, “Lighten up and don’t forget to laugh.” That reminds me of an old Joni Mitchell lyric, “Laughing and crying, you know it’s the same release.” So, thanks, Joni. We’ll all try to remember that!