Eden Alternative
Mission: To improve the well-being of Elders and their care partners by transforming the communities in which they live and work.

The Vine 

-an online newsletter for Eden Registry Members

August 2015  


Make a Difference: Optimize Medication Systems and Usage 

Time is running out and the collaborative is filling up. Don't miss this chance to not only reduce antipsychotic medication use, but overall medication use for all the Elders you serve. From the initial collaborative project completed with six amazing teams in Colorado over the last year, they were able to reduce:
*    Average number of scheduled medications by 16%
*    Average number of PRN medications by 57%
*    Anti-psychotic drug use by 49.88%
*    Average amount of time spent passing medications by 39%

Imagine what your teams could do with an extra 3.4 hours per day and how much better the Elders will feel taking less medications overall? Read more about the initial collaborative project in this report.

Starting this fall, a new offering from The Eden Alternative will blend medication optimization with person-directed approaches to care. It is the first Wellspring module focused on optimizing medication systems and usage. Through an online collaborative learning experience, teams from 10 organizations will learn from experts, receive tools and resources, and develop their own performance improvement projects over the course of nine months. Data will be tracked and action plan progress will be shared. Click here to read an overview of the collaborative learning experience. Click here to get more detailed information. Contact Meredith Martin at [email protected] to get your team's name on the priority list to register once registration opens. There are only openings for 10 teams!
clasped-hands-sky.jpg Registry Networking Calls 

The 2015 Registry networking calls have been scheduled for the year and the topics are looking good. If you need another copy of the year's schedule, click here. Here is what coming up:

Talk to you soon!

Save an additional 10%
 A BACK TO SCHOOL special for Eden Registry Members. Online educational offerings are starting in the next few weeks. Your team has the opportunity to grow their skills and understanding, strengthen their leaders, and reduce overall medication use for Elders from the comfort of the workplace or home. Use the coupon code below to receive an additional 10% discount, beyond the Registry member rates, on the fall online offerings of:

The registration discount code for this special is: backtoschool (all lower case)

 

Note: For all Eden Alternative offerings, the Registry Member discount code is: RegHomePtoM 

Offer Expires: Enter September 22, 2015
Eden Alternative Trainings Worth Noting 
 
Click here to learn more details about each of The Eden Alternative's training opportunities. 

Mark your calendar for upcoming online educational events:
Building Community Through Creative Engagement
A free webinar on September 21, 2015 at 3pm ET

Research shows that creative engagement improves the quality and quantity of engagement between employee and Elder care partners (who are living with dementia); improves employee care partner attitudes toward people living with dementia; and improves affect and communication across the care partner team..  

Research also shows that students trained as volunteers significantly improve their under-
standing of dementia and their desire to work in care settings.

Join us for Building Community Through Creative Engagement and learn the latest about this simple approach from the creator of Timeslips (an Eden Alternative value-added partner) and how this simple approach can be infused into everyday care relationships.

Click here to register to attend!
Worth Celebrating!

We've learned through the grapevine that Buckingham at Norwood Care & Rehabilitation Center, in Norwood, NJ has the lowest anti-psychotic drug use in the state of NJ. They have been working hard on reducing antipsychotic medication use for a few years now. They have also been bravely out sharing their story with the world to inspire others to join their journey! Congratulations team Buckingham!
Inspiring Stories to Light Your Path   
 
falling-hats-pattern.gif
The team at Providence Health Care in Vancouver, BC, had a great story to share on their last Registry call. A member of their team applied for an Eden Fund Grant from their Foundation. We were thinking about having someone come in and teach a class. They used the funds to try an experiment in spontaneity and relationship building. They went out and bought hats and things to decorate them with. Then they held an event where they made sure that there was a 1:1 ratio of Elders to employee care partners; every Elder had a date to make the hats together. While decorating the hats, they explored memories, e.g. going to church. There was some silliness as well. The Elders and their care partners were fully engaged. Normally, for these events, it is a few employees and volunteers that come and those hosting the event are running around like crazy making sure it all works. This time everybody enjoyed the activity and it was not rushed. Relationships were thriving. The Elders were smiling, genuinely. They paraded in the hats afterward. There was no official end time. The event ended when it made sense for the Elders. The team commented that there was a realization that these types of spontaneous things can happen more often then we think. Thirty seven residents participated from one of the Elder living areas. Then they team held the same event for another Elder living area and it was different. Everyone had fun but the 1:1 ratio was not met, so the relaxed atmosphere and relationship building was diminished. The team learned a lot about what worked and what did not. One thing they learned was that arts and crafts are a great incentive to get employees engaged with the Elders in something besides their daily care. Employee care partners are not yet comfortable just sitting and being with an Elder and this event gave them permission to see just how valuable that time can be.

The team at Sanctuary at Bellbrook in Rochester Hills, MI shared inspiring stories about two of the employee care partners. You will enjoy meeting Biju Nair whose quiet ways bring meaning into Elders' lives every day. Then there is the inspiring story of Charlotte Johnson whose green thumb has spurred quite a harvest for the Elders at Sanctuary at Bellbrook. What great stories to inspire us all to remember the difference made in Elder care partners' lives by simply being who we are! The team also shared Jilly's story. Jilly is part of the Human Habitat at Sanctuary at Bellbrook. No doubt her story will bring a smile to your face. Thank you team Sanctuary at Bellbrook for sharing all these wonderful stories with the Registry family!

The Holly Nursing Care Center's (in Holly, CO) Halls are Alive with the Sounds of Music ... not from the gourd-instruments.jpg stereo but from the Elders that live there, initiated from a morning spontaneous activity by Carleta. With awareness of the Eden Alternative plague of boredom, the Elders have been introduced to musical instruments. The Elders choose their own instrument and are encouraged to express themselves however they want using that instrument. Results have been very exciting. As they start their day with music, they are expressing joy, empowerment and energy as well as engaging in a nourishing connection to their present environment. Research shows when we actively make music, as opposed to passively listening to it, we activate part of the brain that controls balance and movement - the cerebellum - in addition to cognitive and limbic areas. In numerous clinical studies of older adults with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, familiar and likable music, not medication, has reduced depression and agitation; increased sociability, movement and cognitive ability; decreased unmet needs (behaviors); improved memory and even speech. The Elders get so excited to play their instruments and sing along to the music that they inspire others to dance. That's right - some even dance. The Elders enjoy this activity so much they would like to name their band. (You ought to see the smiling faces of the Elders in their newsletter!) 

Food For Thought
 
SEM Haven Health and Residential Care Center in Milford, OH has some really great things happening for individuals who are guests for short-stay rehabilitative services. Unlike others, they have chosen to weave person-directed care into daily life at Shumard Rehabilitation Center. Many Registry Members, who are taking on more short stay rehab services, seem to fall into the myth that those services need to more closely resemble a hospital setting rather than home; they leave their best person-directed care practices behind under the assumption that the short-term "patients" will not benefit nor do they desire that experience. Shumard Rehabilitation Center is busting this paradigm. They are achieving better outcomes for the guests and the care partners who support them. Thank you team SEM Haven for sharing your experience! Their story will give you some food for thought.  

Check out this TED Talk by Dr. Guy Winch, a psychologist. It has really important information that may aid in your efforts to eliminate loneliness, helplessness and boredom. It certainly gave me some new insights to carry forward.

Manilla Manor, Manilla, IA would like to share the story of an exciting educational event they've incorporated into the home. (They have been on the Eden Registry since 2002, so it always fun to hear how they are growing and stretching themselves even further!) Every quarter they host an Eden education session for new Elders (and their families) who have come to live at Manilla Manor. This is also open to current Elders and any of their family members. During this informal gathering they review each Eden Alternative Principle. They have held two sessions thus far and in each of them there have been heartfelt moments. One in particular is the Elder who shared how lonely she had been in her own home for the past 13 years since her husband passed. Her daughter was shocked to hear her mom say this as she thought mom preferred to be living at home alone and was totally satisfied with her living arrangements. The Elder expressed how happy is to have joined our family and her loneliness has been filled with love, comfort and new relationships. Thus again renewing life on our Eden Alternative journey!

Wendy Lustbader, incredible writer and thinker about aging and changing the culture of care, wrote a wonderful blog that you should read and share. It would make for a great Learning Circle topic. It inspired the team at the Eden Alternative Home Office. We hope it inspires you too.

The team at Dugan Home in West Point, MS has created an acronym that helps all team members understand how to deliver person-directed care services. They are sharing their story as some food for thought for their peers on the Registry. It is a great example of how formal leaders exemplify the Eden Alternative Golden Rule (steps M2P10) and how everyone comes together to create a caring community (step M2O5). Their approach is improving well-being (part of step M2O22) and establishing goals to help individuals, teams and the whole organization to grow (step M2O18). Great story

Your Voice Needs to be Heard!
CMS Issues Proposed Rule Changes for Long-Term Care

You have probably all heard by now that CMS is proposing revisions to the requirements that long-term care facilities have to meet in order to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The proposed changes are meant to reflect the growth of person-directed care. This is an exciting time for everyone engaged in the culture change movement. It is time to ensure that the rules and regulations reflect that latest language, thinking and ideas being implemented by Registry Members. The Eden Alternative team wants to strongly encourage every Registry Member to go over the proposed rule changes and offer comments by September 14, 2015. You can review or download the proposed changes here.
 
News and Updates

Phase I of the grant project to bring Dementia Beyond Drugs Training to the state of Oklahoma has been completed. Check out this blog to learn more about how the project went. If you get involved in Phase II of the project, click on this link to learn more. Pass the word along to those you know in the state of Oklahoma!

The Age of Disruption Tour starts up again October 6, 2015 in Chattanooga, TN. This round of bus tour stops run from Oklahoma and Texas across to Florida. Be looking for the tour stop that is near you and be sure to get tickets to attend. You can learn more at the website. Be sure to connect up with other Registry Members, Eden Mentors and Educators in your area and have an impromptu gathering while he is in town. What a great way to get re-energized!

The Dementia Partnership Project team of Western Australia has created a video that shows people how care for individuals living with dementia can be different. It is really nice because they are using The Eden Alternative Philosophy and Domains of Well-Being to drive their transformation. The video is called Dare to Dream and features Hawthorn House and the Mary Chester Club. The video shows without any doubt how person-centered care is invaluable. You are encouraged to not only enjoy watching the video but also pass it along to others to inspire them to deepen the course toward person-directed care for all! You are going to hear a lot of concepts and tools they are using that you are already familiar with. How fun is that?

The Elders from Signature HealthCARE are off on another adventurous vacation. This time they are in Boston, MA. Check out the first few days of their vacation. Wish we were there with them!

Hey, check out what is happening with The Eden Alternative in the UK and Ireland. This is their summer newsletter.
~Gardening Tools for Registry Members~
 
Celebrating Milestone 2 mastery:  
  • Willow Lodge, Tatamagouche, NS
  • St. Luke's Home, Tucson, AZ
  • Westmoreland Care & Rehabilitation Center, Westmoreland, TN

Congratulations to the newest Eden Registry Members!
 
Kennebec Manor in Quispamsis, NB joined the Eden Alternative Registry on August 18, 2015. Love, Love, Love is what it is all about in this small town Canadian home. Each and every person in this home is a part of a community that embraces deep long lasting relationships and activities that are meaningful to each individual. Activities that include giving back to the community such as the annual BBq and walk-a-thon, the lunch box campaign for local school kids or the shoe box campaign for people in need in other countries. In the summer they host a camp for local children where Elders and children spend the week playing games and getting to know each other. Mealtimes are filled with choice and variety because the Elders let the folks in the kitchen know what they like and how they like it cooked. If it's not on the menu they just let one the chef's know and they do their best to make it happen.  There is always a variety of snacks and hot coffee in the social center for those between meal hunger pains. Recently, they decided to create 3 smaller neighborhoods within the community.  Each neighborhood has 2 neighborhood guides that provide education to the team and make sure things run smoothly. Creating a sense of smallness and consistent care partner assignments are just two examples of how they make sure that they are well known to each other.  The care partner employees at Kennebec Manor go to great lengths to honor choice and individual simple pleasures. During the day many Elders enjoy visiting the salon for a haircut while others have tea on the back patio. Stop in for a visit and plan on staying a while because you are sure to get caught up in conversation while watching the birds and deer in the outdoor courtyard.
 
~Events and Proddings~    
"By intending to do something, by setting a goal, we begin doing something. We take action. The action we take has intent. It's not aimless wandering; there's a purpose to our actions. ... Exemplary leaders make sure that work is not pointless ambling, but purposeful action. The very act helps people feel more alive, more in charge, more significant. Goal setting affirms the person, and whether we realize it or not it contributes to what people think about themselves."

Encouraging the Heart, by Kouzes & Posner