People with Dementia: Finding the Right Facility
Posted by Kim on May 15th, 2008 / 
Print This Post
An article about the difficulties many have with finding placement for their loved ones who have dementia. And behaviors.
“After going from crisis to crisis, Joan is finally in a place where they have the time and training to really help,” said her husband, Terry, 76, a retired math teacher and businessman from Shoreview. “How many places can you get kicked out of? Let’s see, for us it was four in one year.”
The combination of dementia and behavioral problems can overwhelm families.
The combination can even overwhelm care facilities, said Annette Peterson, an Alzheimer’s Association counselor in Bloomington who talks every day with weary and sometimes frantic family caregivers.
To meet the needs of people with dementia, and who tend to be “violent”- facilities must have enhanced staffing ratios and dementia-specific activity based programming/care. The facility needs to be designed to allow for freedom of movement while ensuring the safety of wandering residents. Meals should be served buffet style and not at specific times. Routine is good for some with dementia but not all. Ware-housing these people with the non-memory impaired will not result in good outcomes. In the future, facilities will need to copy the model written about in this article.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I believe the most important portion of all this is the activity programs. Keeping these residents busy with valuable and failure proof things to do is key; not just 8 to 5 either, but 24 hours a day. Evenings and weekends are most important times for activity coverage. With smaller ratios, the CNA’s can provide activities. I think they should have some formal training in this too- so it’s not on the fly.
Many personal care tasks can be “made” into activities as well. But they must serve a purpose or the resident will get angry. Just because they have memory impairment doesn’t mean they’re stupid. Coloring books and crayons don’t cut it. Cooking some soup for the homeless DOES.