What To Do When Nothing Else Works

Hello everyone, You’ve tried distractions, music, walking, going outside, changing caregivers and adjusting schedules. Nothing seems to work with this resident who consistently has challenging behaviors related to dementia. Some caregivers may even tell you that they can’t handle the person anymore. What do you do? The answer may just be—YOU. You may be the […]

Family Members Can Benefit from Your Expertise

Hello everyone, You and your staff have lots of experience working with people with dementia—probably hundreds of years collectively if you add up everyone’s time!—and have learned ways to communicate with them effectively and therapeutically.  Sometimes, though, we assume that the family and friends of our residents have the same intuitive response and knowledge when […]

Breaking Down Language Barriers

Hello everyone, First off, Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers and grandfathers! If you’ve ever traveled to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, you know how difficult it can be to get directions to a museum or order a meal.  Imagine how frightening and depressing it would if everyone around […]

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 […]

Breaking Down Language Barriers

Hello everyone, If you’ve ever traveled to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language, you know how difficult it can be to get directions to a museum or order a meal.  Imagine how frightening and depressing it would if everyone around you spoke a different language, but instead of being on vacation, you […]

Does One Hand Know What the Other is Doing?

Hello everyone, Last week we highlighted the importance of communication between caregiving staff and people with dementia. We are also learning about another challenge you face: improving communication between your nursing assistants. While nurses have a change of shift report to update the incoming nursing staff about medical issues with residents, CNAs rarely have the […]

Tips for Family & Friends when Visiting

Hello everyone, With the holiday season here, your residents may have more visitors than usual from family and friends. Some visitors may be from out of town and therefore don’t often see their loved ones. If a resident’s level of cognitive impairment has decreased since they last saw them, visitors may feel unsure of what […]