Beginning November 28, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will require nursing homes to provide trauma-informed care. Consequently, they must  "ensure that residents who are trauma survivors receive culturally competent, hence minimizing triggers that may cause retraumatization."

I am humbled and honored to work with such amazing and talented people.  As a trainer, I believe we learn as much from those we are training as they learn from us.  We are all practicing when it comes to dementia care.  Every day is a new day and no matter where we fit into the spectrum, we all need each other to learn and grow.  Let's talk about person-centered care practices.

Quite simply, the definition of personhood is the quality or condition of being an individual person.  At the core of personhood is the self- who we are are, our values and beliefs.  It's who makes us who we are.  Being able to recognize the "self" of personhood is key to understanding and practicing person-centered care for persons living with dementia.

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!

As the world becomes increasingly ethnically blended senior care professionals are called upon to care for people from diverse cultures. This is true in hospitals, clinics, long term care, hospice and home care.  To create person centered senior care it’s important to develop multicultural sensitivity while respecting cultural differences of individuals, families and groups.

The Message is clear. "We need more innovative, person-centered tools to help those who care for our elders, especially those with dementia."
Our team returned from a whirlwind of fall conventions including the American Health Care Association, Leading Age,  Harmony Healthcare International and many state conferences. Discussions among long term care leaders was a consistent theme of needed innovative tools.
While the industry is faced with many challenges,  how we care for our elders remains a top priority.  Thankfully, for many organizations the transformation to true person-centered care is taking hold.  In order for successful integration and sustainable change, leaders must address these key areas:

When visiting someone with dementia, be ready for anything. Things can change day- to- day, even moment- to- moment in dementia care. A little preparation can go a long way to help create a positive experience in dementia care. Have a “magic bag” ready that you can pull things out of that may reach through the dementia to the person inside.