assisted living – The HPP Resource Center

Category: assisted living

Intergenerational Activities: Using the Best Friends Approach with Children

With the Best Friends™ approach, activities are more than just what’s on the calendar. Using Best Friends, almost everything can become an extended, interesting opportunity for engagement. A simple handshake can lead to a discussion about fingernail polish, gloves, work done by hand, “lifelines,” rings on fingers, promise rings, weddings, and more. A teapot can be enjoyed for its beauty, and discussions can follow about making tea, reading tea leaves, the different flavors of tea, and the Boston Tea Party. Because the bottom line of the Best Friends approach is to focus on the person rather than the task. In…

Leading Change in Memory Care: Commitment to Ongoing Education

I like to point out to people working in senior living that change will not only benefit their residents but also their bottom line. I work with families who are beginning their search for a life-affirming environment for a loved one. On a recent call with a man who had toured four nearby places with his father, he could not answer my question about which one he preferred. “Honestly, I can’t tell them apart. They all promise wonderful things, but I didn’t see [evidence of them] as we toured.” If you can tell the stories of the people’s lives you…

Behind Locked Doors: Segregation in Memory Care

Memory care is the fastest-growing area of senior living. It is now standard for assisted living communities and nursing homes to designate an area for a secure unit, usually with a coded keypad on the door. This is where the residents living with dementia will live, segregated from the rest of the residents. Often these secured units, with their extra charges, are the most expensive areas to live. I have worked as a registered nurse long enough to remember when it was also standard to tie people in their chairs or beds “for their own good.” None of us would…

Montessori and Meaningful Engagement: Reclaiming Previous Roles

An elder or person with dementia still has the same needs as everyone else. The person wants to socialize, express desires, participate in hobbies, interact with family, be included in activities, teach and learn, and be asked for advice. The person has the same desires to contribute to the household or the community. The need to have purpose in one’s life and to be productive does not end once someone reaches a certain age, moves into a long-term care community, or receives a diagnosis of dementia. Think of all the roles you have in your everyday life. You are a…

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 5 Main Flaws of Nonpharmacological Interventions (and How to Address Them Without Medication)

This post was excerpted from Dementia Beyond Disease: Enhancing Well-Being by G. Allen Power, M.D. (2017, Health Professions Press) Why Nonpharmacological Interventions Do Not Work This provocative heading may seem out of line for the author of a book called Dementia Beyond Drugs. Rest assured, I remain firmly rooted in the belief that most distress arises as expressions of unmet needs, and that drugs are not the answer. (For a deep dive on this, see Dementia Beyond Drugs: Changing the Culture of Care, Second Edition.) The problem lies not in that underlying philosophy, but…

Leadership: Institutional vs. Person-Centered

What is person-centered leadership? Author Nancy Fox argues that it is the exact opposite of the outdated and harmful institutional leadership model. Here’s why. This post was adapted from Lessons in Leadership for Person-Centered Elder Care by Nancy Fox. Copyright © 2017 by Health Professions Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Have you ever been at a party and had someone leave the table to “toilet” themselves? Have you ever heard someone refer to their grandmother as “the feeder?” These are examples of horrendous language the institutional model in long-term care has given us. Indeed, there is much…

30 Activities to Do in 30 Seconds or Less

Planned activities do not happen all day long. Individuals with the ability to think through how to spend their time can initiate being with others or spending time alone. Persons with dementia often cannot do this. They need help—not only in structured activity—but also in relational interactions throughout the day. These 30 simple, unstructured interactions are not on the activity calendar, but they are probably the most important of the ways that we interact with persons with dementia. Greet the person by name Make eye contact and smile Shake hands Ask someone…

The Validation of Mrs. Trew

Creator of the Validation method for dementia care, Naomi Feil tells the story of an unforgettable older woman who was her childhood friend, and how she impacted her life and life’s work. Validation is a method of communication with people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, developed by Naomi Feil in 1967. It has been adopted worldwide, and used to reduce stress, enhance dignity, and increase happiness. Caregivers who use the Validation techniques focus on the expressed feelings of older adults, rather than focusing on disorientation and confusion. Here, author Naomi Feil shares her inspiration for her…

4 Tips to Decrease Bullying

People who rarely interact with older adults can often perceive that the population is composed primarily of sweet little grandmas and grandpas who get along well with one another. So it is surprising to learn that bullying behaviors actually occur among older adults—especially in senior programs and senior living facilities. Interventions to address bullying among older adults must consider what older adults themselves have to say about potentially effective strategies, especially given that they may witness bullying incidents more often than staff members do. Assisted living residents offered the following suggestions for how senior living organizations can decrease bullying and…

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