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You can now obtain and provide this "Master Key" for dementia
training for your facility staff. You are well aware that staff
education and training is critical to the success of any
facility in achieving the goal of providing the highest quality
of care for the residents. It becomes even more critical when
those residents have Alzheimer's or any other type of dementia.
You will see decreased staff turnover rates, increased reports
of job satisfaction, as well as a better QI rating from families
of your residents when you invest in quality staff dementia
training such as this. Module topics such as "Let's Talk About
You And Why You're Working Here," and "Humor Is An Essential
Tool," are not your typical training topics, yet Cindy knows
they are essential to the success of your training. You will see
a total culture change for the better within your facility when
this training is completed as Cindy has recommended.
This "Master Key" will comprehensively train all of your
facility staff members. The sixteen training modules are clear,
concise and written in a no-nonsense format that will facilitate
learning. There are many stories included within the training
modules that will allow for better comprehension and recall of
the important lessons. Tasks are assigned to most of the modules
and will require the staff members to apply the lessons to
specific residents in your facility. A Manager's Training Guide
is available as a bonus download from this website, and will
enable you to plan and execute the training sessions at your
convenience for a total training time of at least 4 hours.
Don't wait another day to begin this training that will
enrich and improve not only the culture within your facility,
but the lives of your staff, your residents, and their families
as well.
Foreword by Andrew Rosenzweig MD, MPH
As a geriatric psychiatrist and guide to About.com's Alzheimer's site, I
recognize the need for comprehensive and on-going dementia training
for workers in eldercare facilities. Having read Cindy Keith's first book,
"Love, Laughter, & Mayhem - Caregiver Survival Manual For Living With A Person With Dementia," I was impressed with her down-to-earth and practical advice to family caregivers. This second book by Cindy is equally
impressive in the ways she understands the challenges faced by workers in
facilities every day. Cindy tells it like it is: working with people with
dementia is stressful and at times unpredictable, but being condescending to
residents or back-stabbing to each other should never be acceptable. A multitude of extremely helpful tips are included for interacting with people with dementia, as well as guiding workers to take an honest look at themselves and their work ethics. It is doubtful you will find a training as easily taught, or as all-encompassing as this workbook and the Training Guide. Any facility choosing to provide this dementia training tool for their staff will see immediate, positive changes in the culture of the facility, as well as happier, and safer residents with dementia.
MODULE 5: YOUR BODY LANGUAGE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN YOUR WORDS!
Your body language will always, always, always speak louder to a
person with dementia than your words do. We all constantly read the
body language of every person we encounter and we're not even aware
we're doing it. Dogs are masters at reading body language, babies can
read body language, and people with dementia rely on their impressions
of your body language because all of those words you're speaking do
not make sense to them anymore. Allow me to give you an example of
what I mean:
It's time for George's bath and you know
from many past experiences with him that he resists getting bathed,
and that it's quite possible he could become combative with you during
the process. You are dreading this and when you walk up to George to
take him to the shower room, you are wondering if today is the day he
will hit you. Unless you are making a conscious decision to appear
relaxed, calm, and happy, I can guarantee that your body language is
hesitant, guarded, and anxious. At this point it won't matter much
what words you use with George, because he will instantly recognize
something is wrong, and he won't like what he senses. George will not
want to go anywhere with you because of what he's picking up from your
body language and tone of voice. Instead, you need to give yourself an
attitude adjustment before you approach George. Think positively!
Today could just as easily be the day when George enjoys his bath!
Wouldn't that be a blessing! Put a smile on your face, a bounce in
your step, and walk up to George just beaming with friendliness and
joy. When you approach him with that body language and say something
to him like:
"There you are George! I've been looking all
over for you. I thought maybe you were hiding from me! I need some
help with a little project and you're the only one I can think of who
can do it for me. Could you please come with me for a
minute?
Keep up the chatter with him as you walk
slowly towards the shower room (which you have already prepared in
advance for him). Change the subject as you walk and once you walk
into the shower room, he will have likely forgotten the reason you
asked him to accompany you (to help you with something). If you're
chatting with him about a subject he enjoys talking about, then he may
automatically go through the motions of what you want him to do. The
point I want to make here is that you may not have been able to get
George to get up to walk with you if you hadn't approached him in that
open, friendly way. We'll talk more about the bathing issues
later.
Your body language is a tool you need to use to
your advantage every day when you work with people with dementia. Even
if you're upset, possibly angry at one of your own family members for
some reason, if you cannot mask that and act friendly, happy, and
open, then your job will be ten times harder for you that day because
your residents with dementia will not want to do anything with you or
go anywhere with you.
Consider also, if you take
offense at something a coworker has just said or done and your
response is irritation or anger. You exchange a few accusations with
each other in the presence of some residents. Those residents will
immediately pick up on those emotions and will then mirror them. You
could have half a dozen residents around you suddenly becoming
irritable for no apparent reason! How do you suppose that would affect
your work day? And, guess what? It would be YOUR fault if you could
not get your tasks accomplished because the residents were not
cooperating or if they became upset and agitated! You would be the
only one in that scenario who has the ability to change your mood,
your attitude, or your behaviors; your residents cannot.
The same thing would happen if a group of residents witness an
argument or a physical altercation between two other residents. It
will upset everyone who witnesses it, and you would need to take steps
to calm each one of them down and redirect their minds to more
pleasant thoughts. If you don't take a few minutes to do that, then
you will likely be following around behind a few of them doing damage
control while they act out their agitation. And they won't have any
clue why they're agitated.
So, it's crucial to always
be aware of what your body language is saying to others. If you're
upset or not feeling well, then you must be especially careful to mask
that from your residents with dementia or you will all have a more
difficult day.
To recap, being aware of what your body
language is saying to a person who has dementia benefits you in the
following ways:
- When you are aware of how you're
presenting yourself, you can then decide if you need to change that
presentation in any way to accomplish what you want. If you're not
aware of it, you cannot change it.
- When you present a
calm, relaxed, and happy demeanor to a person with dementia, you
greatly increase your chances of having him or her cooperate with
whatever you want him or her to do with you.
Going
out of your way to avoid presenting a tense, angry, or unhappy
demeanor to your residents as well as your coworkers greatly reduces
the emotional stress you feel in your body. When you "act as if”
you're happy, your body totally believes what your brain is telling it
and you will then begin to actually feel happier.
TASK: Write about an instance when you have had to consciously
change your body language for a specific resident.
Has there ever been a time when you've been upset with a coworker while at work? Can you recall if your body language during that day was negative or positive and whether it affected the residents you worked with?
LOVE, LAUGHTER, & MAYHEM IN ELDERCARE FACILITIES: THE MASTER KEY FROM DEMENTIA TRAINING
- REFLECTIONS FROM THE AUTHOR
- Module 1: YOUR OBJECTIVE, AND "DEMENTIA” EQUALS ALZHEIMER'S
- Module 2: DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEMENTIA EQUAL DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS
- Module 3: DIGNITY ISSUES
- Module 4: LET'S TALK ABOUT YOU AND WHY YOU'RE WORKING HERE
- Module 5: YOUR BODY LANGUAGE ALWAYS SPEAKS LOUDER THAN YOUR WORDS
- Module 6: HUMOR IS AN ESSENTIAL TOOL
- Module 7: YOU ARE ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTCOMES
- Module 8: REDIRECTING, REMINISCENCE, THERAPEUTIC FIBS, AND VALIDATION THERAPY
- Module 9: SENSORY STIMULATION ROOM OR CART
- Module 10: ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE
- Module 11: HYDRATION
- Module 12: NUTRITION
- Module 13: DELIRIUM
- Module 14: BEHAVIORS: SUNDOWNING, PACING/FIDGETING, PACKING REPEATEDLY,"SHOPPING,” HOARDING OR HIDING FOOD, REFUSAL TO TAKE MEDICATIONS, REFUSAL TO BATHE, DISROBING IN PUBLIC, PARANOIA, AGITATION, SHOUTING/SCREAMING, REPETITIVELY, SEXUAL INAPPROPRIATENESS, REPETITIVE QUESTIONS, EXIT SEEKING, COMBATIVENESS.
- Module 15: FALLS
- Module 16: FAMILY MEMBER CHALLENGES
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