creating connections: working with people with dementia
TRANSCRIPT
Creating Connections:Working with People with Dementia
• Why connect person-centred care with staff safety?
• Creating Connections background & structure• Workshop evaluation results• Future steps
Presentation overview
1. What is the injury rate for continuing care workers?
9.2 / 100 4.0 / 100 8.2 / 100
2. Of all reported injuries, what is the most-common accident type?
Acts of violence Overexertion Slips, trips and falls
3. What is the most common source of injury?
Working Surfaces People Boxes & Containers
4. Dementia is not a specific disease. True or False?
5. What % of people in residential care have a diagnosis of dementia?
52% 61% 85%
A quick quiz…
• 70,000 people in B.C. have Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia
• Over 10,000 of these 70,000 people are 65 years of age or younger
• 15,150 new cases in B.C. each year
Setting the context: Dementia in B.C.
“Seeing the person with dementia as a person first and foremost...Person-centred care means getting to know the person and then thinking how their condition is affecting them.”
Setting the context: What is “Person-Centred Care”?
• Person-centred care:– Fewer incidents of staff being verbally abused or
struck by residents (Chrzescijanski et al., 2007)– Higher levels of staff job satisfaction / lower levels
of burnout (Edvardsson et al., 2009)
So Why Staff Safety and Person-Centred Care?
Good for the person with dementia
=Good for staff
Vision: Our ultimate vision is to create a world without Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Mission: The Alzheimer Society of B.C. exists to alleviate the personal and social consequences of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, to promote public awareness and to search for the causes and the cures.
Alzheimer Society of B.C.
Vision: Safe, healthy, and injury-free workplaces in continuing care.
Mission: To empower those working in the continuing care sector to create safer, healthier workplaces by fostering a culture of safety through evidence-based education, leadership, and collaboration.
SafeCare BC
• Partnership formed between WorkSafeBC and the Alzheimer Society of B.C.
• Purpose: Determine if there was a need and desire by B.C.’s paid frontline care workers for basic education on dementia.
• October 2012 to November 2013
Pre-Creating Connections: The pilot project
• 8 workshops (6 hours)• Led by Alzheimer Society of B.C. educator• Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Fraser
Valley, Interior and the North• 474 participants attended• Participants had an average of 11.4 years
experience
Pre-Creating Connections: The pilot project
• 98% agreed or strongly agreed that the workshops gave them a better understanding of dementia
• 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they were now more aware of the importance of their own safety while providing care to persons with dementia
Results: Better Understanding, Enhanced Awareness
• Follow-up survey in late 2013• Participants had opportunities to use
knowledge and strategies gained• They had shared the information with others in
their workplace• Great examples of changing behaviours and
work practices
Results: A workshop with lasting effects
“Breakfast time is always a challenge as care staff are trying to get as many residents up as possible for
breakfast as a routine. Now with the new knowledge, we don't routinely wake up residents. We find out
what would be their preference: to get up early, stay in bed for breakfast and get up later, it’s ok now for them just to come out in their house-gown for breakfast and
get dressed later - after all, it is their home.”-Director of Care
Results: Changes in care approaches
• New partnership established Spring 2014 • Creating Connections: Working with People
with Dementia
SafeCare BC & Alzheimer Society
What it is:• Basic information on dementia• Principles of person-centred care• Communication strategies• Responding creatively to behavioursWhat it isn’t:• Clinical information on disease management• Advanced neuropathology of diseases• Prescription for organizational practices
Program Content
• Basic understanding of dementia• Principles of person-centred care• How to be a ‘detective’• Practical communication tips• Application of knowledge• Knowledge of available resources
Learning Objectives
What are some things you’ve heard about
dementia that you think may not be true?
Dispelling the Myths
Dispelling the MythsDementia is not…
• A disease that only affects older people.
• Normal aging/memory loss.
• Preventable/curable.
• Caused by aluminum.
Dispelling the MythsDementia does not mean…
• The end of a meaningful life. • That a person cannot understand what is going
on around them.• That a person will become violent or aggressive.
Group Exercise
Who is attending?- Care aide: 40.5%- RN: 20%- LPN: 15.5%- Average number of years in the industry: 11.8
Workshop Evaluation
Immediately post-workshop:The workshop gave me a better understanding of dementia: 94%
The workshop was applicable to my job: 97%
I have learned the importance of person-centered care: 96%
I will recommend this workshop: 99%
I have learned/reinforced strategies for communicating with
people with dementia: 97%
I am now more aware of the importance of my own safety while
providing care: 89%
Making a difference
Immediately post-workshop:• “Doesn't matter what stage of disease, a
person is a person.”• “I did learn more even after being a nurse
after 19 years.”• “I learned more that I didn’t learn when I
went to school to take the care aide course.”
Making a difference
2-3 months post-workshop:
Have you used some of the strategies and techniques that
you learned in the workshop? 91%
Have you noticed a change in your own work practices
after attending the workshop? 81%
Have you shared any of the knowledge, strategies, or
resources that you learned in the workshop with others in
your workplace? 88%
Making a difference
2-3 months post-workshop:• “Being creative with approaches was
something I've definitely put into practice.”• “I move slower, and no longer use terms like
'dear’ and ‘sweetie’.”• “I'm not avoiding them anymore.”
Making a difference
Person-Centred Care in Practice• “I take more time talking to residents, and
make my tasks secondary as people come first!”
• “I no longer talk over patients like they are not there.”
• “I accept that what they feel is their reality.”
Making a difference
Sharing knowledge gained:• “I have posted 2 of the workshop handouts in
my office at work where everybody comes in to have report at shift changes.”
• “We are planning to add into our employee orientation some points around the client approaches and working with them, not for them…”
Making a difference
• What is the next step for workshop evaluation?
• Continuing to “Create Connections” – Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s perspective
• Continuing to “Create Connections” – SafeCare BC’s perspective
Looking forward…
Upcoming opportunities
Date Location Facility Time
Sept. 24 Burnaby Accent Inns Burnaby
9AM – 4PM
Oct. 20 Victoria Comfort Inn & Suites
9AM – 4PM
Nov. 4 Abbotsford Menno Place 9AM – 4PM
Register online at:safecarebc.ca/education-initiatives/course-listing
Contacts
There is more to a person than a diagnosis of dementia.
Alzheimer Society of B.C.:Jennifer Stewart,
Manager, Advocacy & Education
SafeCare BC:Jennifer Lyle,
Executive Director [email protected]
Thank-you!Questions?