Hello everyone, Some of you have told us that one of the most difficult challenges you face is how to care for an aging resident who also has a chronic mental illness. While depression and anxiety—especially in people with dementia—can be common in long term care, other mental illnesses such as personality disorder, bipolar disorder […]
Tag: Challenges
Addressing Behavioral Challenges
Hello everyone, The UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program has developed a set videos addressing common behavioral challenges for caregivers. The brief videos first show a “typical” approach by a caregiver, then some discussion by an expert, and then show the “preferred approach” of the same scenario and a few more tips. The videos are free […]
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 […]
Promoting Positive Interactions
Hello everyone, This week, we’d like to discuss how to approach a resident with challenging behaviors in a way that can result in more positive interactions between the caregiver and resident. For example, if a resident scratches, swears or tries to hit a nursing assistant while she is helping the resident with morning care, how […]
How to Respond When a Resident Calls Staff Offensive Words
Hello everyone, You have probably heard a resident call a direct caregiver or other staff member an offensive word at least once. It could be a racial epithet or sexually inappropriate remark. What is the best way to respond? According to Dr. J Taylor Harden, a registered nurse researcher, teacher, consultant and immediate past Assistant […]
Tips for Integrating Person-centered Approaches into Care Plans
Hello everyone, Many of you are working on integrating more person-centered approaches into your care plans, and looking for ways that GNAs and other staff can easily access information about the social histories and preferences of residents, which is critical information when caring for people who have dementia. Those “golden nuggets” of information can help […]
Aligning patient-centered activities with CMS guidelines
Most have you have probably been paying attention to the new CMS guidelines for 2017. One of the new guidelines (f-tag F679) relates to activities: “The facility must provide, based on the comprehensive assessment and care plan and the preferences of each resident, an ongoing program to support residents in their choice of activities, both […]