Alzheimer’s, Part 3 with Kelley Smith, Amanda Kirilenko and Holly Carr

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

So welcome back everyone to answer for Elvis Radio and we are back with Kellie and Amanda and Holly, all of representing care partners living and specifically Pierce County. Amanda, I’m and Holly, I’m going to kind of zero in on the tool of you in this in I want to really want to talk to you about, you know, just number one, your staff and your qualifications, because I think that’s sometimes people bloss over and I want to spend time with that and then with those special qualifications I want to get into a little later in this segment about, you know, the activities and how they can help improve quality of life for those with dementia. So first, holly, let’s talk a little bit about staff. You know, you guys have care providers, but tell us, like about the training. Tell us a little bit about your staff. Sure, well, all of our staff go through a special certification for dementia and I’ll let Amanda talk a little bit more about that. But one of the big things that care partners does is we teach our staff how to step into the residence world and what they’re dealing with widomentia. You know, we’re not gonna reality orientate them because that’s that’s not where they are. You know, we’re going to provide reassurance to them and provide redirection for them. You know, we’re not going to say if they ask if where’s my mom, we’re not going to say, well, your mom get your ninety four years old right. You know, that’s that’s cruel to somebody who has to dementia because of their minds. She’s still alive. So our staff is especially trained in those things and it’s just really teaching them that individualized care plan and just working with them on all those ever changing things. Amandage. You have anything else? And Yeah, just with regards to the special, specialized dimension certification, that’s it. That’s something that’s an additional layer in it to the CNA, to certified nurses, owns or nursing assistance or the help aid. So that’s that’s another thing that we take upon ourselves to do. We talk a lot about queuing within regards to caring and a caregiver. You know its tools and it’s really important to just come into this with as much training and that as possible, to running to know how to handle those situations that can be intent sometimes and others just you know, expressing to empathy that they’ve learned through a understanding that busy a little bit better and a little bit of our restaurant. That’s okay everyone. To our listeners, we’re again we do these interviews virtually to make sure that everyone is safe. So if you’re hearing background noises, means that there’s stuff going on in the community and we’re really glad that you guys are taking care of our senior. So we do thank you. So obviously the thing that I look at and in looking at you know what, would I get that a lot of times, because somebody that’s living with alzheimers of dementia, they will remember things that happen, you know, twenty years ago, right, but they don’t remember what happened five minutes ago. Really common if those the shorter term memories and that Short Term Memory Bank that they’re losing, and then it works its waves backwards. Well, we do use those long lasting memories as tools for for bringing them into a happier mood or perhapsters of behater and agitation going on. We can use that information that the family provides us with too them and obviously friends bans that have a loved one. You know, when they say on you know where’s mom and mom’s already passed away. If Dad says that, how do you answer a question like that? We could say he’s at the bank, he went to visit the other siblings. She’s out a state. Then sometimes you could also agree. Had A gentleman that used to ask about his wife all the time, and one of the things we would say is, John, what made you like her? Yeah, I all those those pretty eyes, and I used to go dancing. Tell me about dancing with her. And you take a negative and turn it into a positive and next thing you know, Dahn’s off doing something else with a smile on his face because he remembers her. He got to talk about her, which is what he wanted in the first place. He’s as PERCA. That’s so powerful, obviously. So so let’s talk about you know, when you’re interacting, and that really moves into activities. Obviously. Yes, hum how it’s about a typical day at the cottages. Sure, well, we really want to get to know the resident prior to the disease and how the disease has changed them. So basically it is on an individual basis. If you like to sleep in. We’re not going to get you up at six a m in the morning. So it is based on the individual. So definitely. So you know, will save your breakfast for you if you like to sleep in, different things like that, but you can do whatever you like to do. We have theme boxes that we have made up that we can put out on the table. These include travel, cooking, school, reminisce box where we have a bus, and math books and arithmetic. You know, you’re not going to see the normal Bingo. It’s basically giving the residents a purpose. Are they going to help set the table? You know these everything we do at the cottages is an activity. It’s like, if you don’t have a purpose in night, that’s where, you know, things start to fall backwards. So if you can find things, like you said, getting to know that each resonance is unique in their own way. They have their own likes dislikes, core values or different yeah for types of things. So obviously, when you find those duels about residents, tell me a little bit about how that evolved into providing activities for them. Give me an example of that. Sure. So we have a gentleman and he oh, he’s one of my favorites. He is so smiley. That’s his name. SHOULD BE SMILEY, but it’s not. And he was in World War Two and he was involved with the planes. He wasn’t a pilot, but he was a mechanic on the plane, supporting them flying up. He’s still, to this day, loves airplanes. I was able to find a couple models that we hung from the ceiling and one of the corners of his room. In addition to that, I found these simple, put together plane activities. It was, you know, for a bigger pieces that were that he could good Bab and put together. And Yeah, so that that’s something he loves to do. He can do that over and over with the help of a caregiver sitting next to him and encouraging him. And, just like Holly said, with the team boxes, we’re still going to talk about that. Open him up a little bit, tell us why he liked those planes or what his favorite plane was, or when the first time he went on a plane, anything like that. If that and if that sparks that from him, but not one little simple model plane. We’ve succeeded one and what you’re doing, obviously, is keeping that community smaller to maximum twenty people, you know their stories. Yeah, no, there. You know their values, you know who they are. You they you’re in. You know they are integrated well, because they’re not in a month amount of people. So like when you’re putting out a theme box on a table, let’s say travel, you’re gonna say, tell me about, you know, the travel and trips to eave me you know, because none of the gentlemen, I mean that’s powerful, may end it and it activates that that side of their brain that’s probably still pretty active. Right, let me tell you how well our caregivers know our residence. We had a situation. I’ll make this really brief. I’ll use I can’t use his name, so I’ll call him John. Caregiver takes John in into the into the dining room, which is a common area in the cottage. Is Again till there’s a cure, there’s a gottagis. She goes in there, sets him down and she comes back and says agas and choices for breakfast this morning and he goes, I want eggs, and she turns around on her heel and goes back and was John say that again, and then he starts scoring his words. She wrote goes and grabs the nurse, comes back and finds out John had a stroke. Now how did the nurse figure, outside of the caregiver, figure out something was very wrong with John that quickly? John hates eggs and she knew something was wrong immediately because she knew John so well. So the minute he said he wanted eggs, she knew he wasn’t thinking straights. Turned around and talk to him again and noticed he wasn’t saying his words right. When you got the nurse, they is the quick evaluation called line one, pre medic stage. That she basically saved his life. If he would have set there much longer, you probably that Brainley would have gotten worse. So I’m just saying it’s more than just the comfort of the residents. Also can be the life saving to not know them that well to know something’s not right. Right, I can’t tell you they don’t feel right. That’s our job to pick up those cutes right. And so you guys, tell us a little bit. We have about one and a half minutes left. Tell us a little bit about your communities. Now. Obviously, Amanda, you’re working with edge. Went and tell us a little bit about where that’s located. That property wood is over by Spife, kind of between fife and to you all up. Yeah, there we go. Is it is so gorgeous. It’s a lot of people that are there have lived in that neighborhood and they see the bank they used to visit. They see the same thing if it’s up on the hill not too far away from our location. And then your park and to all have been your part of Jallap where we offer independent, assisted and memory care. Wow, that’s all. Yeah, and Holly, yes, I’ll oversee the university plays and lacy can. Yes, we located. The one in lacy is located right on Martin Way, close to the castle. Well, if people come to the castle there, they can just visit their loved ones right at the cottages of lacy. And the one at university place is on fifty four street and it is right across the street from a Gulf course. Beautiful location of university place and my residence and my family is just love it. It’s a really, really nice part of the community. Well, that’s awesome. And so you guys have some movements. Specials Kelly, one more time before we fign out. We have fifteen seconds. Tell us about your movement special right now if you’re interested. If you put a deposit down in our memory care we will wave the deposit for the month of March. Also in our assisted livings right now for the month of March, the special is you get a free months rich. It’s bick how you want that outline? Awesome. Well, we’re so glad to have you guys on this show today. As always, we love care partners and everyone. You can go to care partners livingcom or you can actually go to answer for others and there’s a little badge right on top where you go right to their website. Thank you. Say we love you. Take care.