🌟 This week's #MeetTheTeam shines a spotlight on Sharon Host, one of our dedicated Global Professional Instructors! 💼
We asked Sharon to explain the training at Dementia Care Specialists helps enable and create person-centered care.
Here is what Sharon had to say:
" Dementia Capable Care training changes how we view a person with dementia. Typically, in our society people with dementia are referred to as “suffering from dementia” which focuses on the disease, but not the person.
Our course starts with an exercise of thinking about the words we use to describe someone with dementia and whether the words we are using are positive or negative. Many times, those words are negative such as wanderer, rummager, or feeder. We challenge learners to turn those negative words into positive attributes of the person. Soon people start to realize someone they once described as a wanderer is someone with the ability to walk, someone described as a rummager has the ability to use their hands, and someone described as a feeder is someone who has the ability to dine, with support. As simple as this exercise seems, it starts to change the lens through which we see people with dementia and places the focus on who the person is and what they can still do.
Then we move to the person-centered care pillar of our training. Now we begin to talk about what I call, who am I information. We need to know all about the person in our care, what are their interests, preferences, and routines and how to support personhood given the limits dementia may impose as they move through the stages of the disease.
Learners are taught to use a valuable tool, which is our Dementia Capable Care Model. This tool guides them through critical elements of the assessment and intervention process with the goal of providing care that enables their clients to do the things they want and need to do, at their best ability. Using the model, learners are taught to always start with learning about the person in care and their highest priorities first. The next step is to identify and understand their capabilities and limitations, culminating in knowing how to adapt their approach and the environment to compensate for any cognitive or other challenges. Understanding the person’s capabilities and limitations informs them as to what environmental and human supports to provide so the person in care can accomplish their goals and meet their wants and needs."
If you are ready to move your culture of care toward a person-centered practice, we would love to show you how. Please contact us for more information: https://bit.ly/3Hk5KQb
Stay tuned for more enlightening conversations with our exceptional team!
#DementiaCare #PersonCenteredCare
