Category: PersonFirst®

Ahead of its Time: Action Pact’s PersonFirst® Methods Bolstered by U.K. Study

Published on by Megan HannanLeave a comment

A study(1) in 69 care homes in the United Kingdom affirms principles that Action Pact’s PersonFirst® train-the-trainer program has advanced for 20 years – that person-centered care with meaningful social interaction as simple as daily chats can improve quality of life for people living with dementia and enhance their relationships with caregivers.

Published Feb. 6, 2018 in PLOS Medicine, the study found improvements in agitation, pain, and neuropsychiatric symptoms(2) along with a nearly 20 percent increase in positive care interactions with staff. Continue reading “Ahead of its Time: Action Pact’s PersonFirst® Methods Bolstered by U.K. Study” →

Essential Elements of Households Transcend Long-Term Care

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What can the Household Model, designed as an antidote to institutionalized senior living environments, do to improve how we care for the homeless, foster care children, and people residing in their own homes?

Plenty, as they’re discovering at Uniting in New South Wales, Australia. 

Continue reading “Essential Elements of Households Transcend Long-Term Care” →

Contemplating Person Centered Care in the Expanding Continuum

Published on by Steve ShieldsLeave a comment

This article was originally published by The Beryl Institute.

by Steve Shields

We know how it is. 

Anyone with a complex medical condition knows the feeling: Your doctor refers you to one or more specialists and therapists, and with each comes a new round of appointments to schedule, forms to fill out and recitations of your medical history, current diagnosis and the medications you’re on to a stranger focused only on one part of your total wellbeing. Continue reading “Contemplating Person Centered Care in the Expanding Continuum” →

Creating Home and Poetry

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Through our PersonFirst® trainings, Action Pact has long promoted community circles as a tool for meaningful engagement with residents living with dementia. An open-ended question is posed to the group and each resident, sometimes with encouragement from staff, answers the question or comments on the topic. In this way, staff and residents get to know each other better and build community with the side benefit of gaining a better understanding about how best to serve the residents in their daily lives.

The residents of The Village Court, the memory support neighborhood of Asbury Place Maryville in Maryville, TN, recently took their “fun circle” (as they call it) in a creative direction. Continue reading “Creating Home and Poetry” →

Noise in Nursing Homes

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We know a nursing home can be a noisy place and many organizations have been working to reduce the noise, especially of overhead pagers, for example, in an effort to create a calmer environment. But according to a recent study by Dr. Laura Joosse, Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, elevated sound levels can also add to the agitation of those living with dementia. Continue reading “Noise in Nursing Homes” →

Residents Become PersonFirst® Trainers at Assisi House

Published on by Action PactLeave a comment

High involvement is at the core of Action Pact’s PersonFirst® training. After all, it is a train the trainer model wherein Action Pact consultants train folks in an organization who then train others on the principles of putting the person first. Traditionally, PersonFirst® is a program for staff. Sometimes residents from Independent Living or spouses of those living in the nursing home will be trained. The community of Assisi House in Aston, PA, the retirement convent for the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, has really taken the high involvement to heart and included resident sisters among the first to be trained. Continue reading “Residents Become PersonFirst® Trainers at Assisi House” →

Caring for a Pet Helps Meet Essential Human Needs

Published on by Megan HannanLeave a comment

As I sit at home writing this, I am warmed by a cuddly kitty in my lap and a dog at my side on the couch. My pets (I have four in all) are a core element of what home means to me.  When I think about the attachment to my pets and the comfort they provide me, I realize they fulfill what Tom Kitwood describes in his book Dementia Reconsidered as the “human needs.” Continue reading “Caring for a Pet Helps Meet Essential Human Needs” →

An Environment Where Elders Living with Dementia Make Decisions

Published on by Action Pact1 Comment

Megan Hannan, creator of PersonFirst®, addresses the need to create an environment where people living with dementia can make decisions and experience life like an adult.