quality of life – My Alzheimer's Story

the current system is disgraceful

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018 My Alzheimer's Story

I accompanied my LinkedIn post of “please remain seated for the rest of your life” with a question:

“Would you want to be confined to a chair for hours every day at someone else’s whim?”

Canadian personal support worker (PSW) Paula Littzen answered in no uncertain terms. She wrote:

“No, and it is abuse to make anyone do so! It is unacceptable for this practice, and many more, to be allowed to occur in long-term care (LTC) facilities. The Government and Ministers of Health and LTC, Canada wide, need to open their eyes and ears, face the FACT that the current LTC system is abusive, extremely inadequate, often neglectful, and is not even meeting the basic human rights, and needs, of the people living there.

Our most vulnerable people are not being afforded the care they deserve and need. We know what is needed and must be implemented in LTC facilities to ensure our most vulnerable live their last few years well, happy, and properly cared for. We must hold our leaders accountable, and demand what needs to be done, be done! The current system is disgraceful to anyone with a brain, sight and hearing.”

You said it Paula! And thanks for caring for others the way that you would want to be cared for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“you said it!” is a place to discover informed comments, inspiring thoughts, short stories, good ideas, provocative opinions, quotable quotes and noteworthy snippets from across my worldwide network.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://myalzheimersstory.com/2016/04/18/please-remain-seated-for-the-rest-of-your-life/

https://myalzheimersstory.com/2018/07/15/19-ltc-human-rights-abuses-i-hope-quebec-will-have-to-pay-for/

#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */

Subscribe to MAS now & get 5 free PDFs & a page of welcome links:

Email Address

Take my short survey on behaviour here.

Image copyright: rangizzz / 123RF Stock Photo

Advocacy, Toward better care, Videos

7 ways to improve dementia care in less than three minutes

June 2, 2018 My Alzheimer's Story

Okay, I admit it; the title of this post is a little deceiving. There are indeed seven ways to improve dementia care in the article, but we’ll only touch on them in the video below in less than three minutes. Implementing them will probably take at least three decades if not more! Still, there is hope for making them happen when you’ve got firecrackers like Joanna LaFleur on the task.

LaFleur worked in various types of traditional dementia care facilities for 10 years. She saw things she didn’t like. Things like neglect and abuse. She spoke up, and tried to create change, but with little success.

“People don’t really like it when you don’t like what they’re doing. So I got a lot of flack for that, and I got fired a few times,” LaFleur said when I interviewed her.

But that didn’t deter her. If anything, it further ignited LaFleur’s desire to change things. She decided to go into the care business herself. She created Dementia Specialists Homecare in 2014, and then opened her first long-term care home, Memory Lane Assisted Living, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in 2016. The following year, she closed the home care side of the business and opened a second care home, also in Ypsilanti, about a mile away from the first.

A young, enthusiastic, passionate and determined entrepreneur, LaFleur is outspoken about what needs to change to make dementia care what it should be. When I asked her what she felt was required going forward, she didn’t hesitate to name seven key points:

1) Provide proper in-depth dementia care training

2) Tap into great resources (e.g. Teepa Snow)

3) Make training ongoing & compulsory

4) Deliver person-centered care

5) Give people a reason to live

6) Improve staffing ratios

7) Don’t be greedy!

Watch the less-than-three-minute (2:47 to be exact) clip to get a taste of LaFleur’s contagious energy:

https://myalzheimersstory.com/2016/07/15/7-paths-to-better-dementia-care/

https://myalzheimersstory.com/2016/03/30/20-ways-to-create-dementia-care-homes-away-from-home/

Subscribe to MAS now & get 5 free PDFs & a page of welcome links:

Email Address

Take my short survey on behaviour here.

Advocacy, Toward better care, You said it!

let them have their dementia

May 31, 2018August 24, 2018 My Alzheimer's Story

For the many people who just don’t get it, there are a few who totally do. When I run into them, either online or in person, my heart fills with hope for the future. Reading this post by social worker, educator, speaker, trainer and fellow dementia care advocate Daniel Kuhn on LinkedIn made my day. Kuhn wrote:

“I recently had the pleasure of giving a keynote lecture at an Alzheimer’s Association conference in New York on “Keeping Connected to Someone Living with Dementia.” The positive feedback from professionals and families focused on the fact that I stayed clear of medical interventions and instead talked about how we can help meet emotional needs with compassion, communication and imagination.

It was interesting to hear that this humanistic approach is still considered innovative, 20 years after Tom Kitwood published his finest work, Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. The biomedical approach to dementia is so deeply embedded in our culture. And it has miserably failed people with dementia and their families.

Once we accept that little or nothing can be done to fix brain pathology, it’s time to accept symptoms and to learn to compensate for them. Instead of fighting dementia with drugs and words, we can listen and simply ask “How can I help to improve your quality of life?” Then it’s time to act individually and collectively.”

You said it Daniel! And thank you for continuing to spread these important messages.

#FightTheGoodFight #WeCanCareBetter #WhereverWeAre

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://myalzheimersstory.com/2015/03/01/life-is-a-death-sentence/

https://myalzheimersstory.com/2015/08/13/my-mom-still-counts-just-like-everyone-else-and-she-deserves-better-we-all-do/