All posts by Julie Boggess

Julie has worked in Aging Services for over 30 years and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 1990. She is a Certified Master Trainer with the AGE-u-cate Training Institute and provides education and training to private and professional caregivers through her company Enlighten Eldercare. She lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburbs of Mount Prospect, IL.
Senior Care Professionals

Alone Together: Combating Loneliness in Long Term Care

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Loneliness plagues the elderly in long term care.

Promoting quality of life is an essential component for any successful aging services organization.  Many things impair quality of life, but most impactful is loneliness- which I think is one of the most challenging issues to addres

The effects of loneliness amongst the elderly are well documented.  Without a doubt, it is an issue that deserves attention from aging services leaders.

Create New Connections

Jamie Ducharme cites research that indicates meaningful social contact and forming relationships is the best anecdote for loneliness.
To that end, I came across a Ted Talk from an extraordinary young man.  His simple, cost-effective idea for combating loneliness is to take letter writing to a new level.

Imagine the impact on a resident who receives a real-snail-mail letter every day!  Knowing that someone cares is a powerful antidote for loneliness.

Our employees,  neighborhood churches,  fire department personnel,  students,  senior center members all might be willing to become letter-writing partners.  It is such a lovely way to help someone feel special and less alone.

Deepen Existing Relationships

Research reveals that often times, nursing assistants perceive tacit messages from management not get too attached to residents.  Therefore, perceived or real, let’s start working on building deeper bonds.

Creating a culture that supports deep and meaningful relationships between residents and caregivers helps to combat loneliness.  In addition, it improves trust between residents and caregivers.

By no means is this a simple issue, but we can begin by understanding the barriers that prevent deeper caregiving relationships and create opportunities for our employees to more deeply connect with residents.   As a result, it may help to chip away at the feelings of loneliness for our residents.  Additionally, it could  improve the quality of the work experience for employees.

By creative programming and inspiring deeper caregiving relationships,  we may be able to make some inroads in curtailing loneliness and improving quality of life.

 

Julie has worked in Aging Services for over 30 years and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 1990. She is a Certified Master Trainer with the AGE-u-cate Training Institute. Through her company Enlighten Eldercare,  she provides training and educational programs on elder caregiving to private and professional caregivers.  She is an instructor and the Interim Director of Gerontology at Northern Illinois University and lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburb of Mount Prospect, IL.

Faith Community, The Faith Community

Dementia-Friendly Faith Communities: Let’s Get Started

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Faith communities should start to think about creating a culture of acceptance for persons with dementia.

Many faith communities find themselves investing in worship experiences that will attract younger members.  However, it is just as essential to keep older members engaged and attending worship services, including those with dementia.

Faith often plays a vital role in the lives of persons with dementia and their family members.  But, the presence of dementia can greatly interfere with a person’s ability to actively engage in their faith community.

Becoming a dementia-friendly congregation will create an open and welcoming environment for all.  It is an initiative that can be embraced by all members, regardless of age.  Faith communities are stronger when they recognize the value of multi-generational connection and interaction.

Dementia-Friendly Transformation

Church leaders can begin by calling upon professional community resources to educate congregational members about the needs of persons with dementia.

We should dispel notions that people with dementia are incapable of benefitting from worship.  As a result,  persons with dementia can be more easily understood and accepted with compassion and lack of judgment.

Recognizing when someone stops attending is a good first step.  Leaving the house alone as the disease progresses is very overwhelming and leads to isolation. Mobilizing volunteers to reach out and offer transportation could help them hold on to their faith a little longer.

Start with Small Changes

Begin with simple changes to assist persons with dementia to better navigate their way around the church. Therefore, consider forming a group of volunteers, with specialized training, to serve as ambassadors to escort or sit with someone in need.

Create opportunities for purposeful engagement to keep them connected.  Serving as a greeter, wiping down tables after fellowship, or telling a bible story in Sunday school may be a possibility.

Dementia-friendly worship is best when it is inclusive and engaging.  In doing so, we help them stay close to God and honor the mothers and fathers of our faith.

Beth is a Certified Master Trainer with the AGE-u-cate Training Institute and a compassionate professional with decades of experience as a Registered Nurse, caregiver, patient advocate, educator, and trainer.  Early in her career, Beth found her passion for working with elderly populations and their caregivers.  Living in the Green Bay/Fox Valley area with her husband, she enjoys driving a ski boat for barefoot or slalom water-skiers, playing board games or creating a new quilt.

Julie has worked in Aging Services for over 30 years and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 1990. She is a Certified Master Trainer with the AGE-u-cate Training Institute. Through her company Enlighten Eldercare,  she provides training and educational programs on elder caregiving to private and professional caregivers.  She is an instructor and the Interim Director of Gerontology at Northern Illinois University and lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburb of Mount Prospect, IL.

Senior Care Professionals

Infection Control and Expressive Touch: We Can Have Both

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The healing benefit of expressive touch is lacking in the lives of older adults.

The topic of infection control almost always enters the conversation when I deliver Compassionate Touch training.  This training teaches caregivers the skill of expressive touch.

Hand, back, and foot rubs used to be a part of the care process.  Seasoned nurses consistently confirm this fact.  In contrast,  newer nurses and nursing assistants report that expressive touch was not a part of their training.

This lays the foundation to discuss the reasons why older, frail adults lack expressive touch in their lives.

Glove Culture and Expressive Touch

Infection control is consistently cited by skilled nursing employees as a reason for the lack of expressive touch in the lives of older adults.    Furthermore, employees fear citations from surveyors for not using gloves.

Megan J. DiGiorgio, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC  coins the phrase “glove culture”.  In addition to the wasteful use of resources, the over-use of gloves increases disconnection and a lack of trust in caregivers, among other negative outcomes.

Burdsall, Deborah Patterson, MSN, Ph.D.,  identified situations that require the use of gloves.  Touching intact, non-infectious skin of older adults in healthcare settings does not require gloves.

Skilled nursing caregivers do expressively touch their residents.  Indeed, holding a hand or giving a hug communicates how much we care and provides comfort.  We can incorporate more of this excellent medicine of expressive touch in our caregiving practices and still uphold infection prevention standards.

Gloves are not used with Compassionate Touch techniques. I urge those I am teaching to resist the temptation. The benefits of touch would be lost for both the resident and care provider.

Consider evaluating the extent to which gloves are used in your community and understand the unintended consequences.  Even more, it seems like this would be a worthwhile QAPI project.

 

Julie has worked in Aging Services for over 30 years and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 1990. She is a Certified Master Trainer with the AGE-u-cate Training Institute. Through her company Enlighten Eldercare,  she provides training and educational programs on elder caregiving to private and professional caregivers.  She is an instructor and the Interim Director of Gerontology at Northern Illinois University and lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburb of Mount Prospect, IL.

Senior Care Professionals

Elevating the Vocation of Aging Services Certified Nursing Assistants

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The shortage of Certified Nursing Assistants in Aging Services is reaching a critical point.  Piled on top of the current shortage is the projected need.  However, systemic and sustainable solutions have evaded the industry.

The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the demand for personal care aides to grow by an astounding 38%  to the year 2026.  Consequently,  this leaves many aging services providers panicked and scrambling to attract and retain qualified and caring nursing assistants.

More importantly, we need a new generation of dedicated persons who have a calling and see this work as their vocation.

Expecting a high level of dedication from nursing assistants in an industry that does very little to advance the vocation seems unrealistic. Therefore, creating a vision for a new role of the C.N.A needs attention from a national, state and organizational strategic level.

Possibilities for a New Role

Recently, I had the pleasure to meet with Karen Messer, CEO, and President of LeadingAge Illinois.  Karen and her team are responding to challenges facing association members by developing workforce solutions and resources.

Karen and I discussed ways to elevate the esteem and professional standards of the certified nursing assistant.  As a result, we started running down the list of potential skills-building opportunities.  Noteworthy ideas include fall prevention expert, medication aide, dementia care coach.  Also consider life enrichment facilitator, mechanical lift trainer, oral care technician, infection prevention certified.

Adding on specialties and certifications to the vocation of a certified nursing assistant will elevate the esteem of the position.  In addition, it will create a needed career path.

Cash strapped Chief Financial Officers will be concerned about paying more.  Therefore, I encourage organizations to consider the positive impact of reduced hiring and turnover activity, increased census,  and improved job satisfaction and morale of their staff.

Begin with starting a conversation in your community about how you can nurture the potential of your C.N.As.  As a result,  build a sustainable workforce solution to propel your organization into the future.

 

Julie has worked in Aging Services for over 30 years and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 1990. She is a Certified Master Trainer with the AGE-u-cate Training Institute. Through her company Enlighten Eldercare,  she provides training and educational programs on elder caregiving to private and professional caregivers.  She is an instructor and the Interim Director of Gerontology at Northern Illinois University and lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburb of Mount Prospect, IL.