Tag Archives: Dementia Live®Training

Communication Skills Training Improves Dementia Care

Caring for people with dementia requires specialized communication skills training.  Unfortunately, healthcare professionals and family caregivers often receive little training to enable them to meet the communicative needs of people with dementia.

Research has shown that communication skills training in dementia care significantly improves the quality of life and well being of people with dementia and increases positive interactions in various care settings. Communication skills training shows significant impact on professional and family caregivers’ communication skills, competencies, and knowledge.

As we look at the look at the vast growth taking place across the spectrum of those serving older adults,  in addition to the health and long-term care fields.  Communication skills training is being implemented by EMS professionals, Social Work, Case Management, Chaplains and Volunteer workers and to the broader community of those serving older adults in a wide variety of capacities.  Financial advisors, insurance personnel, retail, and banking are all seeing a rising need for communication skills training to better serve their older adult customer base that often is living with dementia or other cognitive impairments.

Key qualities for those directly serving the elderly and aging populations are

1. communication skills

2. compassion

3. physical stamina.

With the growing demand for in-home care services, home health aides and certified nursing assistants (CNAs),  communications skills training is more important than ever so they are well prepared to care for the high percentage of people living with dementia.  These are high demand professions and one of the fastest growing occupations projected.  Already, in many areas of the US and around the world, shortages and the consequences of these staffing challenges are affecting the quality of care.

Quality communication skills training, starting with awareness and empathy training will better prepare our health care teams, retailers,  legal and financial advisors, faith communities and first responders to face the already ballooning numbers of aging adults who deserve better care and certainly more respect here and around the globe.

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute and a passionate advocate for older adults and those who serve them.  Pam is the creator of the internationally recognized Dementia Live® awareness and simulation training program.  

http://www.AGEucate.com

 

Why YOUR City Needs to become Dementia Friendly

I’m honored to be part of the exciting Dementia Friendly Fort Worth initiative.  Not only are we the first major city in Texas to undertake this effort, but one of the largest cities in the United States.  We are part of Dementia Friendly America (DFA), which is a multi-sector collaborative on a mission to foster “dementia friendly” communities across the nation.

DFA is the work of over 35 national, leading organizations, the Dementia Friendly America initiative is catalyzing a movement to more effectively support and serve those across America who are living with dementia and their family and friend care partners. The lead organizations represent all sectors of the community and are collectively leveraging their national reach to activate their local affiliates, members, and branches to convene, participate in and support dementia friendly community efforts at a local level.

Dementia Friendly Fort Worth is organized to educate people in all sectors of the community about dementia, to assist them in becoming dementia friendly and to support and care for those living with dementia and their care partners.

The program offers:

  • Education opportunities for all persons to increase awareness and understanding of dementia
  • Help in the development of better services for persons living with dementia and their care partners
  • Guidance to all sectors of the community to become dementia friendly in their day to day interactions with persons living with dementia
  • Encouragement and support practices and opportunities that enrich the lives of persons living with dementia and their care partners.

Why be a Dementia Friendly city?  There are more than 120 types of dementia, for which there is currently no cure.  More than 60% of these individuals live in your neighborhood and use the businesses and services in your community.   Currently, there are over 10 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia.  This number is expected to grow drastically in the years ahead.  The massive group of baby boomers (10,000 a day turning 65) is living longer, and dementia occurrence increases with age.  A person who is 65 has a 1 in 10 chance of having dementia and that rises to a 1 in 3 chance for someone 85.  The fastest growing segment of our population are those 85 and over.

According to the Dementia Friendly Toolkit Overview, communities are encouraged to progress through four phases as they journey to become dementia friendly: Convene, Engage, Analyze, and Act.  In Fort Worth, we have created sector groups which are defining standards for various business groups to be certified as dementia friendly, using the toolkit from Dementia Friendly America.

In just 4 months, leaders from faith communities, long-term care, hospitals, businesses, Alzheimer’s Association, Area Agencies on Aging and others have come together to move forward with outlining initiatives and plans to reach out to the greater Fort Worth community.  It’s very exciting to see the stakeholders investing in this project, including the FW Mayor and city council.  Everyone sees the urgent need to address the needs of those living with dementia and their care partners.

Funding for dementia friendly projects comes from donations from individuals, companies, organization, and foundations which have a desire to make a difference in the lives of those living with dementia.  First United Methodist Fort Worth was the catalyst to provide important seed money for this project, and other are quickly joining them.  It’s definitely a model of grassroots efforts and the passion of hundreds of people from virtually every sector of the community.

For more information on how to become a dementia-friendly city http://dfaamerica.org.   

 Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute and a passionate advocate for older adults and those who serve them.  She is the creator of the internationally recognized Dementia Live® program, a transformational experience, and training to help care partners understand life with dementia.  Dementia Live is an educational outreach program of the Dementia Friendly initiatives in Fort Worth and Grayslake, Illinois.  

The Fear of Dementia and How We Must Redirect our Thinking

I had a few “Aha” moments this past weekend that made me realize just how prevalent the fear of dementia is in our society,  and how we must redirect our thinking in order to transform how we look at Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

There are two sides from which this fear is bubbling.  The first is the 10,000 boomers a day who are turning 65, often seeing their parents or other loved ones cognitive decline and living with a halo of terror that this might happen to them.  The other is fear of the unknown by caregivers, families, and society.  By this I mean the fear of how to communicate with some who has dementia, the fear of caring for them properly, fear of their behaviors.

One of my “Aha” moments this weekend was listening to a couple – care partners – both talking about their journey with dementia.  The husband who is living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) talked about his lifestyle.  He exercised,  was physically active, maintained a healthy weight and diet, had a college degree, maintained strong social connections.  He checked off everything on the list that we are told may stave off dementia.  Yet he was diagnosed in his 60s with Alzheimer’s disease.  Living now 8 years with AD, he spoke to a crowd and with the help of notes and a few small prompts from his wife communicated his heartwarming story and message about still living life and being able to live it with joy.

I’m one of the baby boomers who witnessed two parents with dementia – one from Alzheimer’s Disease and another from Parkinson’s Disease.  My journey certainly did change my life from caregiver to activist.  I suppose there are times when I think about what my future could hold, but in the meantime – I do all I can to take care of myself.  I pay attention to my physical, emotional and spiritual health and all that encompasses those goals.  My mission is to help other caregivers through their journey from fear to transformation.  While it’s not easy, I am living proof that it can be done, and I’ve seen hundreds and thousands of others do the same.  Facing their fear by redirecting their thoughts and actions.

The other fear is one that is even broader, more serious to society’s acceptance of dementia, and requires urgent attention from stakeholders in this arena.  That is the fear of the unknown.  My other “Aha” moment this past weekend was in talking to the Senior Adult director at my church.  She told me how her well-meaning volunteers visit members of the church in care facilities and those who are home-centered.  They often become frustrated because they don’t know what to say or how to talk with someone who has cognitive decline.  Sadly, because they don’t have the tools to overcome their fear they chose to serve in another ministry.

Family and professional caregivers, employers, those who serve in retail, banking, airports, financial and insurance services, customer service industries need dementia awareness training and even more so, need to be empowered with tools to better understand, communicate and compassionately guide and care for the explosive growth of persons living with dementia.

Fear comes from not knowing what to expect and not feeling you have any control over what’s about to happen.  Awareness, education, and training can overcome fear.

I’m thankful for being a part of this movement to help others transform thoughts, feelings, and actions about and for those living with dementia.  By doing so, my concerns about my future with or without dementia are thwarted by the fact that I am confident that the future will continue to improve for those living dementia, their care partners,  families, and most importantly society’s stigma about dementia will be transformed.

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute and a passionate advocate for older adults and those who serve them.  Pam is the creator of the internationally acclaimed Dementia Live® Simulation Education and Training Program.  

www.AGEucate.com

How do Caregivers Walk in the Shoes of a Person with Dementia?

Walking in the shoes of someone living with dementia is challenging at best, especially since every person, like shoes –  is different!  There is an urgent need to help professional and family caregivers communicate and respond to the needs of their care partners.  A walk in their shoes is a powerful and very needed training and education tool to help others develop understanding, empathy and improve care.

Like shoes,  people with dementia all are different.  In fact, what makes the caring journey so very stressful for many care partners is that their care partners ARE so different – sometimes changing moods, personality, needs and temperament many time within a day or even within an hour.

So what is the solution as we face the exploding numbers of people who are living with dementia be better understood, accepted and cared for?  

The experience of living with dementia will help care partners feel the anxiety, fear, loneliness and agitation that accompanies living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.  By literally walking in their shoes for a short time, they gain empathy and understanding that is unlike anything else.

What do care partners really learn once they have gone through such an experience?

In order to create change… lasting change that is, care partners must have tools that accompany the “aha” moment of walking in their shoes.  Some of these tools include:

Better communication skills.  Believe it or not, simple and effective changes in how you speak to and with someone with dementia can have a profound effect on building their trust and moving to healthy engagement and relationship building.  These tools include speaking clearly, eye to eye contact, slowing down and never arguing are just a few effective changes that can make a positive impact on both care partners.

Improving care processes by taking the time to understand a person’s daily habits, gaining input from family members, and focusing on key areas that often are stressful for persons living with dementia:  bathing, oral care, dressing, toiling and eating.

Creating a dementia friendly environment accommodates for the changing needs of a person living with dementia while at the same time creates opportunities for independence.  Checklists to access the home and perimeter can create a safe environment while at the same time small changes in creating signage vs. writing will help with prompts that may help a person live more independently.

Understanding caregiver burnout is a tool that every care partners, whether they are professionals or families must take seriously.   Caregivers of persons living dementia face upwards of a 60% increase in risks associated with high levels of stress.  In order to improve care we MUST help caregivers remain healthy.

Sensory changes that affect persons with dementia include hearing, visual perceptual change and tactile processing.  By learning to walk in the shoes of someone living with dementia, these sensory changes are key elements for caregivers to understand.  Learning these changes from the inside-out will have profound effects on caregivers, those who work with older adults, those in the healthcare professions, students and more.

Learn more about the internationally recognized Dementia Live® program at www. AGEucate.com.  .  

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGEucate® Training Institute and creator of the Dementia Live® Simulation program being used throughout the US and internationally to transform care partners understanding of those living with dementia, leading to improved care.