Huddle Up to Help Residents

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]