Tag Archives: Dementia Live

Dementia Live, Hospital Professionals, Senior Care Professionals

Award Wages for Aged Care Workers in Australia

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Having just returned from Australia,  I’ll be devoting several upcoming blogs to my research and fact finding with how Australia is advancing in aging and dementia care, as well as dementia and age friendly best practices.  I found their award wages for aged care workers to be one significant difference from the US and worthy of discussion.

Award wages and workplace rights and responsibilities are managed by the Australian Government Fair Work Ombudsman. An employee’s minimum pay rate can come from an award, enterprise agreement, other registered agreement, or the national minimum wage.

Employees must be paid for all the hours they work including the time they spend in training, team meetings, opening and closing the business, and working unreasonable trial (what is equivalent to overtime in US) shifts.

An entry-level Aged Care Worker with less than 5 years of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation of AU$44,000.  An Aged Care Worker with mid-career experience which includes employees with 5 to 10 years of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation of AU$46,000.  An experienced Aged Care Worker which includes employees with 10 to 20 years of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation of AU$46,000.  An Aged Care Worker with late-career experience which includes employees with greater than 20 years of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation of AU$48,000.

Although the healthcare and aged care systems differ from the US, I found that we are all experiencing the same challenges of a rapidly growing aging population.   Workforce shortages, rising costs and changing policies are certainly a global concern.

Employee turnover in Australia is less significant than the US.   While this is  likely due to higher wages,  they also have in place required  training for all care workers, of which dementia care is included.

In late 2016 Dementia Training Australia rolled out Dementia Essentials which is delivered by Alzheimer’s Australia nationally.

The three-day course provides attendees with extensive knowledge of dementia, as well as focusing on person-centred practice, communication strategies, developing appropriate activities, and responding to unmet needs.

AGE-u-cate’s Dementia Live™️ and Compassionate Touch® programs have been overwhelmingly received in Australia and we are excited to be working with providers from across the country in expanding our presence in the coming year.

I learned that while we differ in how our “systems” work we all want to deliver high quality care to our aging populations.  We all have challenges and are learning and growing from each other.

Next blog I’ll be talking about Australia’s amazing Men’s Shed program, so stay tuned!

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute and a passionate advocate for older adults and those that serve them.

www.AGEucate.com

Family Caregiver, Hospital Professionals, Senior Care Professionals

How Five Minutes a Day Can Transform Care for Older Adults

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Time is precious.  Staff is in short supply.  Family caregivers are stretched to the limit.  Just taking care of the basic needs  is hard enough, so five minutes a day seems – IMPOSSIBLE!

Humanizing care is the core of the person-centered philosophy initiative sweeping this country.  Dignity, respect and understanding the needs of any aging person is a culture change that I believe with enough stakeholders will transform care from the medical model that has driven our health care system for far too long.

If holistic care is the core of this belief, then education and tools for those who care for our older adults is paramount.  Tools that are feasible, effective, and will be sustained within the organization.  So, how can five minutes a day change someone’s dignity or sense of respect?

Engaging and communication are absolutely  essential elements that must be integrated into our staff training and family education plans.    These tools are incredibly simple to use, yet often overlooked because we are concentrating on the box checking (aka meeting regulations and requirements).  While charting is certainly important, let’s not overlook the essential elements of engagement and communication.

Here are 10 examples that can transform a person’s dignity, self-respect and value in five minutes a day:

  1. Remove words of endearment (honey, sweetie) and refer to them as they would like to be: Mrs., Mr. Sarah, Fred.  This takes one minute to ask another staff member, family or even the patient!
  2. When speaking, look at the individual in the eyes, talk clearly and slow down!  You don’t have to shout (no one likes being yelled at!).  This small gesture tells another person you are engaging with them because you want to engage.
  3. Use gentle touch on the hands, shoulders, arms or face to develop trust and show the person you genuinely care.  Touch will induce chemical changes in the brain that induce relaxation, reduce stress and many other benefits.
  4. Ask a person something about them.  It may be about their family, or what they did in their career, or a hobby.  Learn one new thing about them every day.
  5. Compliment and smile!  “You have a lovely blouse on today, Mrs. Smith.  I love the spring colors”.  “Mr. Jones, I appreciate your smile – it really lights up my day!”
  6. Practice mindfulness – being centered and in the moment when you are with your care partner.  When one is distracted or stressed, it shows!  Deep breathing or meditation can and should become a part of every caregiver’s daily de-stress routine.
  7. Pay attention to your body language and expression.  Clenched teeth, rolling eyes, closed arms all tell another person you don’t want to be where you are.
  8. Learn what music your care partner enjoys and throughout the day, play this music to set the tone for whatever the circumstances.
  9. Take a 5 minute walk outside and enjoy nature – it calms the soul, reduces anxiety for both care partners, not to mention the healthy shot of Vitamin D!
  10. Accept the moment and that no matter what positive things you do as a caregiver may not always be helpful that day.  Tomorrow, however is a NEW day!

Pam Brandon is  President/Founder of AGE-u-cate Training® Institute and a passionate advocate for changing how we care for older adults.

www.AGEucate.com

Compassionate Touch®, Family Caregiver, Senior Care Professionals

What’s all the Talk about Mindfulness for Caregivers?

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Call it awareness, attention, focus, presence, or vigilance. It’s proving to be a powerful and effective practice in coping with stress.  Caregiving can easily top the charts on stress, especially for caregivers of elders with chronic illness and dementia.  Mindfulness for caregivers means learning to live in the moment, accept the reality of a situation, and filter out distractions.

Mindfulness is not necessarily about a constant state of meditation, or practicing yoga, although these are both proven tools in helping one to better cope with life’s challenges.

We can practice mindfulness by sharpening our focus.  In our Compassionate Touch® training, we call this centering.  For a caregiver it might be deep breathing or focused meditation before entering the room when an older adult is agitated, confused or combative.  Learning to leave your other worries at the door will help to focus on how you can help the person you are caring for.  You have, for that moment, stepped into their world.  By being engrossed in that person and the present situation, there is a higher probability you will have a heightened sense of empathy and understanding, thus be able to tap into tools that will improve care.

By practicing mindfulness in caregiving, the benefits go far beyond improving care.  The stress reduction benefits the caregiver as much or more than the care receiver.  When this happens, everyone wins! Like anything else, mindfulness must be practiced.  Nothing becomes second nature until it is put into regular use.  If deep breathing exercises  works, then practice this throughout the day.  Journal the difference in how you are able to handle situations.  If brief moments of meditation work, try these… but do it every day and many times a day.

Centering ourselves through mindfulness allows us to accept that we are most often not in control, which is often a huge challenge for care partners.  We want so much to make our loved ones happy and healthy again, but this is sometimes not possible – certainly not all the time.  In a world that is always on full speed, with soaring expectations, sometimes the most valuable gift we can give our loved one is this:

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute.  Passionate about creating transformative change for older adults and those that care for them,  Pam is honored to work in the field of caregiver education and training and lead the AGE-u-cate team who are changing lives with innovative programs for family and professional caregivers. 

www.AGEucate.com

Senior Care Professionals

Empathy Training for Dementia Care – A Strong Foundation Tool

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AdobeStock_121846321Neurological research substantiates that human beings appear to be “wired” to be empathetic.  In other words, we all have an innate ability to be empathetic.   Would empathy training in dementia care  provide a strong foundation tool for front line staff to help improve the quality of life for those living with dementia?

Empathy is the ability for one to walk in someone else’s shoes.  To experience their world so as to gain a deeper understanding of what he/she is experiencing.  For those in dementia care, stepping into their world is often especially challenging, as behaviors and emotions can change rapidly and unexpectedly.

The “AHA” moment is HUGE when a care partner can feel the frustrations, anxiety, fear, helplessness and aloneness that living with dementia often perpetuates.  This opens a care partner’s eyes, thus propelling them to draw on this innate sense of empathy.  When care partners receive empathy training it becomes a strong foundational tool to build on critical skills that empower care partners, especially when helping someone who is living with dementia.  Some of these critical skills included:

  • The ability to deeply and with understanding of their reality
  • Learning to read and understand body language
  • Freeing oneself from creating perceptions or judgements by focusing on care partner’s feelings instead of your own
  • Accepting the reality of the moment – good, bad or indifferent
  • Avoidance of ever being “right” or having to prove a point
  • How to use such powerful and simplistic tools that have exponential benefits, such as touch, music, nature and art to help respond to behavioral expression
  • Allowing silence to build engagement without words
  • Gaining an inside-out perspective of living with dementia
  • Tapping memories that are still alive and impactful for the person living with dementia

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute.  Creator of the Dementia Live™️ Experience that powerfully simulates what living with dementia might be like, Pam is passionate about creating transformative change in elder care.

www.AGEucate.com