Helping Those with Dementia – Homestead Assisted Living – Tuesday, June 16, 2015
According to the CDC, over 5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. and 2/3 of the cases are women. Unless a cure is found, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates there will be 16 million people living with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. by 2050.
Sean visited Homestead Manor Assisted Living in Denton, Md. to talk to Administrator, Christine Harrington about what their doing to improve the lives of those living with Dementia.
Christine says with such a wide variety of symptoms, it takes special training to properly care for each patient. Christine is a certified Dementia care manager and trainer, so that they can have training all year long at Homestead Manor.
The certified music and memory program is a tailored playlist that includes music, TV shows, and sporting events from the pre-Dementia years of the patients. Christine says you can see people singing along with the music or tapping their toes to the beat. Catherine says it is like they are transported back to the time when they heard those songs or watched that sports game from years ago.
They also use a care tracker system which enables them to chart the patients’ needs. It helps the residents get what they need and it helps the staff as well. Video security also helps ensure that the patients are safe. They also use an electronic medication system that reminds staff of specific drug instructions.
Christine says she is very passionate with giving people quality care and making that connection with individualized care. “Everybody’s care is so different and so unique. We need to be able to be different and unique for every single family that comes through here,” Christine said.
