Hello everyone, With the Super Bowl just a week away, we thought this would be a good time to talk about the benefits of a “huddle.” Football players often huddle up before plays to make sure every team member on the field knows what the plan is. The same “huddle” concept can be extremely effective […]
Tag: behaviors
Addressing Resident-to-Resident Aggression
Hello everyone, “That Myrtle woman…she’s sitting in my chair! That’s where I sit for lunch. Get up you stupid woman. Get out of my chair!!” Sound familiar? Many older adults who move into long term care communities are moving from a home where they either lived alone or with a spouse. Suddenly, they are put […]
If at first you don’t succeed…
Hello everyone, If at first you don’t succeed…well, you know the rest: Try, try again! How often do we ask residents to join us for exercise class or another activity, have them say “no”, and we say “ok” and move on to the next person. Then after a few no thank-you’s from them, we give […]
Using “DICE” to Assess and Manage Behaviors…Let’s Start with “D”
Hello everyone, Today we are going tackle the first part of DICE, a tool you can use to assess and manage behavior change in people with dementia. DICE stands for: Describe the behavior Investigate the influence of things like cognitive status, environment, caregiver approach, physical/medical disorders, and psychiatric symptoms Create a plan Evaluate if it works (Kales, Gitlin, Lyketsos, 2014, […]
Reducing inappropriate behaviors
Hello everyone, Since we recently received a question from one of our study participants about how to deal with sexually inappropriate behaviors exhibited by some residents with dementia, we thought we would address this in a tidbit to give you all some strategies for how to respond when this happens at your nursing home. This […]
Evidence-based strategies for pain reduction and a DICE suggestion from a community care partner
Hi everyone, First off, thank you to Stella Maris of MD for sharing this great example of DICE with us: D- Resident urinating in a cup in the dining room and on the floor in the corner of his room. I- Resident is a retired truck driver and would urinate in empty bottles/ cups in […]
Holler if it hurts? Strategies for identifying & assessing pain in people with dementia
Hello everyone, Much research has shown that people with dementia are at an increased risk for having their pain under-assessed and under-treated, leading to serious physical and psychosocial consequences including: Gait impairment (leading to increased fall risk) Decreased appetite Sleep disturbances Agitation Physical combativeness Wandering Decrease in daily activities Impaired cognition Verbal aggression Depression Social […]
Creating and evaluating the plan for managing behaviors- The DICE model in action
Hello everyone, This week we’ll finish discussing the four steps of DICE. We hope you had a chance to discuss the “Describe” and “Investigate” parts with your staff, and are finding the process helpful as you work to assess and manage behaviors of your residents with dementia. The “C” in DICE stands for “Create a […]
Investigating behaviors- The second step in the DICE model
Hello everyone, In last week’s tidbit we discussed the DICE process for assessing and managing behavioral issues in residents with BPSD. We focused on the “D”—describing a resident’s behavior with specific details that provide important clues about the cause of the behavior. This week we focus in the “I”—Investigate. Once we have a detailed description […]
Describing behaviors- The first part of DICE, a tool to assess and manage behaviors
First off, congratulations to Future Care Irvington, who sent in the winning tidbit for our contest!!! We asked you to send us tips for how you get your more challenging residents to bathe. A nursing assistant at Future Care Irvington said she gives verbal cues to her resident, one step at time, and talks to […]