Tips for Person-Centered Care – The HPP Resource Center

Category: Tips for Person-Centered Care

Incorporating Montessori Principles into All Areas: Personal Care (Bathing)

While assisting with personal care, care partners can implement the Montessori philosophy by using task breakdown and following these six steps: To help care partners understand how this process works, here are some tips that provide examples with each step when helping someone bathe. Know the person Prepare the environment Invite Demonstrate Observe Encourage Thank the person This post was excerpted from Montessori for Elder and Dementia Care, Second Edition by Jennifer Brush, M.A., SLP, and Margaret C. Jarrell, M.Ed. Copyright © 2024 by Jennifer A. Brush. All rights reserved.

5 Inspiring Stories of Meaningful Person-Centered Memory Care

Small Ways Care Partners Have Improved Quality of Life and Made a Difference This post was excerpted from Getting Dementia Care Right: What’s Not Working and How It Can Change by Anne Ellett, M.S.N., NP. Copyright © 2023 by Health Professions Press. I have had so many meaningful experiences over the years working in memory care. I have worked with countless wonderful support partners and leaders, people who took the time to listen to an individual resident, advocated for him or her, and provided a gentle touch at just the needed moment to improve that person’s day. The following stories…

The Benefits of Gardens in Dementia Care

Saying “hello” to the outside world, for even a brief moment, is vital. The truth is, trips outside, whether to the garden at the home or to a nearby forest or nature trail, are beneficial for both the residents and the employees. It does us all good to get a little air and light, and being out in nature can remind our residents, and ourselves, of our connectedness to something greater than ourselves. I am not sure why so many people assume that working at a nursing home means staying indoors. Let people go outside; it is good for all…

Moving to the Care Home: Entering a New Life

Dagmardsminde is a small innovative nursing home in Denmark with a remarkable and life-affirming approach to dementia care. Here, founder of the home (and author of Living Normally with Dementia: One Care Home’s Story and How to Make it Yours), May Eiby, shares how they welcome new residents to their home. A nursing home should provide proper care for a person, but it can also be a place that opens up new possibilities. What if moving to a nursing home could become a kind of adventure for people? The goal at Dagmarsminde is to make moving to a nursing…

How Friendship Works in the Context of Dementia Care

If you are new to the field of dementia care, it might be confusing to think that an in-home client, day center participant, or resident can be a friend. Maybe you’ve been taught to address someone as Mrs. Smith instead of Anne. Maybe you are worried about boundaries. Why is it so important to think about the elements of friendship as you go to work every day with 40 people with dementia? The reason goes back to empathy. It’s easy for someone with dementia to get lost in confusion and feel disconnected from the flow of life. Without our intervention,…

Getting Started with Montessori Materials in Elder Care

Dr. Montessori designed an array of hands-on materials for every area of the curriculum: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, Science, Geography, Culture, Art, and Music. Some of these materials can be used—or adapted for use—with elders. Whether using traditional materials or creating your own, these manipulatives share common characteristics: progression from the concrete to the abstract, a control of error, and isolation of difficulty. Characteristics of Montessori Materials Concrete to Abstract, Simple to Complex In the classroom, Montessori materials provide concrete representations of abstract concepts. For example, the decimal system is made physical with golden beads, parts of speech are…

Creating Cultures of Dignity

These days, it feels the whole nation is watching the long-term care communities with an array of emotions: judgement, compassion, sympathy, and sometimes outrage. Living and working under this microscope can weigh heavily on the entire long-term care community. Stress levels begin to run high and relationships among care-partners can become strained. When the outside world makes us feel unworthy of honor and respect, we begin to pass that sentiment on to our teammates and our capacity to build strong relationships begins to diminish. We must look within ourselves and: Believe we matter Know our value Understand our WHY Believe…

Dementia Care at a Distance

The COVID-19 crisis is taking a heavy toll on all of us, particularly family and professional care partners. Visitors are prohibited in most residential care communities; this is necessary but certainly can be distressing to families and persons with dementia. Even when we are together, we are told to stay six feet apart. The very phrase “social distancing” is the opposite of the Best Friends™ Approach and what we want in quality dementia care. In many ways, socialization is the treatment for dementia. Social distancing (and lots of handwashing) is necessary to ensure good public health practices, but can we…

Look Inside Elder Care Conversations: Amping Up Your Activity Programming

Download this free sample from a module from Elder Care Conversations! This sample contains helpful information and insight on activities of daily living (ADLs), and is filled with brain teasers, trivia quizzes, word games, discussion questions, and imagination and reminiscing exercises. Elder Care Conversations: A… by on Scribd Excerpted from Elder Care Conversations: Amping Up Your Activity Programming by David…

ADLs: You Would Resist, Too, If It Happened to You

Many elders need help with Activities of Daily Living, commonly known as ADLs. They include dressing, bathing, grooming (hair and nail care, brushing teeth), continence care (also known as toileting), and eating and drinking (nutrition and hydration). These are often considered tasks to be completed, but if seen as opportunities for building relationships, everyone’s satisfaction increases. One of the phrases that is like fingernails on a chalkboard is “resistance to care,” implying that the older adult we intend to help is ungrateful and cranky. Whether or not people have dementia, people say “no”…

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