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Caregivers Offer Attention and ActivitiesQ: What alterations has your facility made for Alzheimer's patients?
We have also introduced the Let's Do Lunch Club. The enhanced dining program provides a small group of residents with a quiet environment, centerpieces, place mats, soft background music and a home-like atmosphere where table conversation is encouraged. Humor is a big part of how we live each day together. Through an environment rich with love, friendship and support, we encourage resident independence, we help stimulate memory with specially designed programs such as music, art and pet therapy, and we have created a sense of community among residents, staff and families. We have family, staff and resident cooking and luncheon groups where we encourage family members to bring favorite recipes that we prepare and eat together." -- Debbie Marks Kahn, MS, ATR, Director Special Care Unit, Sarah Neuman Center for Healthcare & Rehabilitation, Mamaroneck, N.Y. A: "Almost Family adult day care centers have been specially designed to accommodate the needs of Alzheimer's patients. Alzheimer's disease is one of the leading diagnoses of the individuals utilizing adult day care services. Helping these individuals remain independent for as long as possible and supporting their caregivers is the mission of Almost Family. The colors and lighting in the center are selected to create a comfortable, soothing environment, which is especially important to the member suffering with Alzheimer's or dementia. Personal care can be provided in showers, which accommodate wheelchairs and shower chairs. The physical layout allows for three or four activity groups to function at the same time so individuals with similar cognitive levels can participate together. Our Reminiscence Room provides a place where past memories can be shared. The member with Alzheimer's can wander throughout the center on a path designated by different colored carpeting and there are handrails to provide extra security and help prevent falls. Every Almost Family center has alarmed doors that buzz if a member opens the door or tries to leave the center unattended. Handicapped accessible vans are available to transport members to and from the center." -- Susan Clarke, Director of Communications, Almost Family Inc., Louisville, Ky. A: "Providing early-stage dementia care in the assisted living unit follows our commitment to the social vs. medical model approach. The environment supports residents' strengths and minimizes their deficits. Our unit is one of fun and relaxation vs. stress and chaos. The continuous walking path in the enclosed Friendship Garden has yielded a positive effect on residents' behaviors. It includes a butterfly garden, vegetable garden, "bus stop" and a mailbox. Each apartment has a shadow box that the individual and/or family personalizes and it gives the staff a sense of the individual's interests and hobbies. A family album contains a resident profile and social history, which helps determine each resident's identity. Staff members are no longer caregivers and doers, but friends, buddies, extended family and enablers. They participate in every aspect of the resident's care from morning to night. Caring for our dementia residents should never be about amenities, but about humanity." -- Holly Schade, RNC, NHA, Administrator, OakBridge Terrace at Southampton Estates, Southampton, Penn.
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A:
"Our Special Care Unit staff won an Innovation of the Year Award from
the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (NYAHSA) for its
memory book project. Memory books are created with the help of social work
students during one-on-one sessions with a resident and family member. The book
is a tool using pictures that relate to the resident's life and the activity
helps validate past experiences. It encourages reminiscing and communication.
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