Products from Alternative Solutions in Long Term Care that NCCDP Endorses

The Care Planning Cookbook for Activities and Recreation

Creating Moments of Joy Book

Activity Planning Work book for Dementia provides excellent activities for dementia.

Memory Lane DVD
Memory Lane’s family of products, from the creators of Baby Einstein® (now part of The Walt Disney Company) can transform caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s into a positive, uplifting experience on many levels

Grandfather's Memories To His Grandchild
Grandfather's Memories to His Grandchild is a beautiful record book that will be treasured for generations.

Validation Therapy Video -
Communicating with the Alzheimer's-type Population: The Validation® Method.
This practical documentary offers caregivers methods for communicating with disoriented very old people (probable Alzheimer's or related disorders).

Creating Successful Dementia Care Settings
Excellent set for long term care, assisted living, adult day care and home settings. Great practical advise.

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Associate Members

Duenas, Sharon

Dyson, Celestine M

Fracassi, Angelo

Fracier, Ann - Bethany Village Dayton Ohio

Karwowski, Karen

Lewanowicz, Lisa LPC

Neil, Carol J. RN MSN

Smaldore, Robert ACC

Wiesen, Marianne LNHA, ADC, Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, Certification with ACHCA in LTC and Sub Acute, Certified Train the Trainer with the Alzheimer's Association

Wood, Ame Marie

Corporate Members

ACCU-TRACE,LLC

AgeCare, LLC.

Ageless Design Inc

Alternative Solutions in LTC

Alzheimer's Project of Tallahassee, Inc

Bergen Regional Medical Center

Bettye Williams Prints

Brentwood Manor

Bristol Manor Health Care Center

Cambridge Health Care

Canadian Nursing Home Magazine

CareOne LLC

Castle Hill Health Care Center

Cedar Hill Health Care Center

Certified Nursing Assistants

Chancellor Specialty Care Center

Creating Moments of Joy

Dementia Relaxation Videos

Digital Aquarium

Dorson Home Care, Inc

Dr. S Torr'Andell Diagnositc/Research Professional Corporation

Elder Rage

Encore Senior Living

Families of Loved Ones

Galleria del Lago

Gloucester Manor Health Care Center

GoodLife Adult Daycare

Gordon Social Work consultants for NJ

Great Falls Health Care Center

Harborview Health Care Center

Henry Fod Continuing Care Center

Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, P.A.

Hudson manor Health Care Center

ICare Health Services

Iconlogic

Idyll Arbor Long Term Care Resources

Kaleidoscope Company

Knoll Heights Village, Sparta NJ

Lincoln Specialty Care Center

Long Island Veterans Home

Luthern Homes and Services

MealCall

Memory Lane

Mothballs In My Attic

New LifeStyles Online

OMNI Health Systems of NY

Palisade Nursing Center

Parkway Manor Health Center

Pope John Paul II Pavilion/St. Mary's Life Center

Quality Care Consulting Company

Rahway Geriatric Center

Recreation Consultants

Right at Home of Middlesex/Mercer Co

Robinson Adams Risk Management

Rosemry Goulet Marian Convent

SeniorMag

Sentimental Productions

Sparta Police Department, Sparta NJ

St. Cloud Hlth Care Cntr Stratfod Mnr

The Activity Director's Office

The Buckingham at Norwood

The Canterbury at Cedargrove

The Fein Group - 732 238 6400

Triangle Traveling Store

Windor Gardens

Please feel free to post this newsletter on your web site or email it to a colleague. Enjoy the summer and remember to provide fluids during all activity programs and through out the day.

Lynn Biot Gordon LCSW, CDP
Sandra Stimson CALA, ADC, CDP
Lisa Reidinger LNHA, CSW, CTRS, CDP

In this publication:

Support Groups are a necessity in every long term care setting
Take Precautions During Community Outings with Dementia Residents
CDP Benefits
Upcoming Seminars
Upcoming Train the Trainer Seminars
Welcome New CDP’s!
Welcome New NCCDP Approved Trainers!
Welcome Corporate Members and Individual Members
CEU’s Online…Coming Soon!
In the News
Associate and Corporate Membership
CDP Pin

SUPPORT GROUPS ARE A NECESSITY IN EVERY LONG TERM CARE SETTING
Sandra Stimson CALA, ADC, CDP
Executive Director

There are several kinds of support groups that are held in long term care facilities. One that benefits the caregivers who provide care in the home, another is to support the residents living in healthcare facilities and finally the support group for families with loved ones residing in a health care facility. A variety of support groups should be offered. A social worker was overheard stating, “we don’t offer support groups because my residents and families don’t need it!) Support groups offer support, provide education and camaraderie.

Support groups should be offered to residents, families and the community, at minimum on a monthly basis. It is strongly recommended that families and residents not attend the community support groups. One big reason is that families have different issues and concerns vs. community care givers. Family caregivers have ongoing issues related to the facility care, clothing, medications and discharge. Additionally, they need emotional support and education related to their loved one’s diagnosis and end of life decisions. At times they have concerns that are facility-specific that would be best discussed on site, rather than in a larger community setting. Families of loved ones providing care in their home have a whole range of different issues. They are seeking education, emotional support and tips on dealing with 24 hour care giving.

Residents should have their own support group. For example, it is imperative to have discussions and information about dementia. They have many issues to contend with such as wanderers coming into their rooms, dealing with disruptive behaviors and communication issues. Many are afraid they may one day have dementia. The residents need to be informed and educated. Often times, the resident’s are not as patient as they could be toward a dementia resident. Education and support offers the residents the tools to deal with difficult situations. They need the same kind of education as the families and the community. Because most long term care settings now have 60 to 80 percent dementia, it is imperative that the residents have support groups. Other topics could be developing self esteem in the elderly, spirituality, bereavement or adjusting to nursing home placement. Men living in long term care settings especially would benefit from support groups.

Depending on the needs of the group, the support group may meet monthly or more often as needed. The group sessions should be about 1 hour. If you are providing food, you may want the meeting to run a little longer.

The facilitator should plan for a speaker several times a year to address specific questions, issues and concerns. A speaker can be someone from an agency, association, organization, hospital speaker’s bureau, Geriatric Care Manager Association, clergy, facility department head and of course, the social worker.

You don’t want your support group to turn toxic which can happen for many reasons. One common reason is a participant who does all the talking. It is best to address this head on and utilize a timer or hour glass. The participant should speak when they have the timer as it’s important to hear from everyone. Make sure to explain the rules of the timer or hour glass. If someone is speaking too long, simply say, “Thank you for your input, but we need to move on and hear from everyone.” Allow time for the participants to respond to questions or concerns. Remember, you don’t have to have the answers to everything. Let the group provide input, as many have ideas and suggestions. When someone asks a question, repeat the question and ask the group for their input.

Be sure to advertise the date and location of the resident’s and family support groups in the monthly calendar, facility newsletter and on the bulletin boards.

A nice touch is to provide a journal to the residents who attend the support group meeting as they may wish to take notes or write down their thoughts. Always thank the residents for coming, as it takes a lot to bare their soul.

Support groups should be planned and advertised at times convenient to the group you are hoping to serve. For example, elderly home care givers would prefer a midweek early afternoon as many don’t want to drive at night. A light lunch should be offered. Younger care givers might want an evening support group due to commitments of family and work. A light dinner should also be offered. For your community support groups you should advertise in the local paper, local TV stations, Office on Aging and with your local Alzheimer’s support organizations. There are many care giver web sites you may wish to also post your monthly meetings. If you have a web site, you should post the information on your site. Try to always keep the meeting dates and time the same, for example, the 3rd Thursday of the month at 1:00 P.M.

Always have a table set up with resources, brochures and current treads for the participants to review. Offer clean fresh copies as no one will want to read a faded copy. Let the participants know they are welcome to leave information on the table as well.

The facility should offer support groups for families of loved ones with dementia living on the Alzheimer’s dementia units. These can be held monthly or quarterly. Let your families vote on how often they wish to meet. You should plan the dates of the meetings and the topics to be discussed a year in advance. It is recommend that by the 1st week in January you have posted the dates of the meeting. Families should not bring their loved ones (from the dementia unit) to the meeting as this can impede the flow of the discussion. Always provide a fact sheet on the topic to be discussed. Allow time for the speaker and time for the families to ask questions.

There are many topics that can be discussed at the community, resident and family support groups. The Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org has free fact sheets. These should be downloaded and kept in your library. Always provide a fact sheet of the topic you will be discussing. Each time you meet, discuss one of the fact sheets. Be sure to have a sign in sheet and write down the topic on the sign in sheet so you will remember what you discussed. It is important to provide seasonal fact sheets as well, such as “Preparing for the Holidays” and “Recommended Gifts for the Dementia resident.”

Do not give out names, phone numbers or addresses of the members of your support group. If they want to provide that information to another member of the group, they will. If possible, print business cards with your name and contact information. Never give your home phone number. At every meeting, let the participants know, that should they have an emergency they should dial 911. For families of residents or residents residing in the health care setting, they should immediately seek out the nursing staff.

For wonderful ideas and suggestions on how to run your support group please visit www.njgroups.org, The New Jersey Self Help Group Clearing House or American Self Help Group Clearing House http://selfhelpgroups.org or http://mentalhelp.net/selfhelp/
The New Jersey web site has fantastic resources, such as; How To start a self help group, structuring a meeting, finding a guest speaker, ground rules, possible discussion questions, how to keep the meeting upbeat, providing mutual support, group evaluations, getting the members involved, over coming group and member issues, facilitating the group, etc. If you have never run a group this is the best web site to go to for lots of information. You should purchase a 3 ring binder and download the information and place in a notebook. In this notebook, you should also place one of every fact sheet listed (place in a sheet protector) on the Alzheimer’s Association web site so you have a clean master fact sheet. As you find articles and other resources, add those to your notebook.

Another resource is the Closed Captioned Media. They have a free catalogue and free in-service videos. They will mail the videos to you at no charge. Their web site is www.cfv.org

You should have at least two support group facilitators so one can fill in should you not be able to attend the group. Be sure to keep the support group members names, addresses, phone numbers, cell phone numbers and email addresses list updated. Always obtain an emergency contact number in the event of an emergency. You never know when a member may become ill.

If at any time you as the facilitator feel you are in over your head or become aware of a potential suicide risk, reach out immediately for help, guidance and support.

Anyone can be a volunteer support group facilitator as it requires; commitment, patience, good listening skills, organization and compassion. If you are presenting a topic that requires specific knowledge be sure to read about the topic before the meeting or schedule a speaker who is knowledgeable on the topic. If you want to start a support group and don’t want to run it by yourself, reach out to the social worker, nurse or facility clergy to assist you with the group. Remember, you are the facilitator and it’s your job as the facilitator to insure that the group runs smoothly.

Long term care communities will find the benefits derived from the support groups to the participants are many. What the volunteer facilitator receives in return is priceless. For facilities that do not have a support group, now would be the time to begin exploring who could run your group, the population to serve and specific area you wish to address, such as a family support group for your dementia unit. The support groups can only benefit your community, facility residents, staff and families.

Upcoming Seminars

Train the Trainer Alzheimer's and Dementia seminars are open to consultants, in-service directors and corporate trainers. The seminar provides all the necessary tools to provide comprehensive training to staff and community. The student will be provided with power point disk, over head copy, master hand out student notebook, DVD, text books and tests. The modules that are covered are; Introduction to Dementia, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Treatment, Communication, Feelings, Depression, Repetitive Behaviors, Paranoia, Hallucinations, Wandering, Hoarding, Aggressive Behaviors, Catastrophic Reactions, Intimacy, Sexuality, Personal Care, Bathing, Dressing, Toileting, Nutrition, Activities, Environment, Staff and Family Support, Diversity, Cultural Competence, Spiritual Care, End of Life Issues and Pain.

Train the Trainer 2007 Dates:
September 29th Philadelphia
October 27th Dallas Texas
November 10th NYC
For those seeking CDP certification, the Alzheimer’s and Dementia seminars are offered all over the United States by our NCCDP approved trainers.

NCCDP will be offering 2007 Alzheimer's and dementia seminars for those seeking education or pursuing CDP certification. NCCDP will be offering 2007 Alzheimer’s and Dementia seminars on:
September 29th Philadelphia
October 27th Dallas TX
November 10th NYC

The seminar is approved for 7 ceus by NCCAP for Activity professionals, NJ Social Work Board and NJ DOH for Administrators. You would need to check with your state governing body to see if these ceus will be accepted.

You can visit our web site at www.nccdp.org and click on the calendar for a list of other dates and locations. We value your feed back; please let us know about the Alzheimer’s and Dementia seminar you attended.

Any organization who wishes to have one of our trainers present at your next conference please contact us at nationalccdp@aol.com or toll free 1877 729 5191.
__________________________________

Facility Trainings: The NCCDP approved trainers can bring the Alzheimer’s and Dementia seminar to your facility. Please email us at nationalccdp@aol.com or call our toll free number at 1 877 729 5191 for information and availability.

CDP Benefits

Many times we are asked what the benefits of certifications are. We have provided this information and the benefits for the facility, staff, resident and families.

Link to Benefits of CDP

One important comment we hear from Administrators regarding staff who have completed NCCDP Alzheimer’s and dementia training, “our staff is providing better competent care and it is directly related to the NCCDP Alzheimer’s and dementia training they received.” “Often times, the only dementia training the staff received was through videos.” Video training, all though a great tool should never be used as the sole way of providing dementia education. The staffs need to be able to ask questions, exchange ideas and provide an opportunity to role play. Health care professionals all have unique learning styles and not everyone will benefit from video training. The health care professionals who have completed training and certification, take the CDP certification seriously and implement many of the suggestions and tools that were provided to them during the seminars.

Welcome New CDP’s

Allen, Dana LVN
Allen, Janese ADC
Allison, Lisa LPN
Andrews, Belinda GNA CNA
Applewhite, Clymesa BS MS
Atwood, Pamela MA
Battle, Tameka CTRS
Bens, Dorothy RN
Blan, Toni CNA HCA
Bojocquez, Carol
Branum, Kimberly RN
Buettner, Sandra ADC
Burns, Dorothy CNA CMA
Carter-Karpel, Trudi CSW
Catherine, Steiner LPN
Chapman, Amy OTR, MSRS
Couliboly, Tracey ADC-P
Crowley, Karon
Dollar, Jacqueline LNHA
Duren, Lauren
Edwards, Diane ADC
Elentukh, Izina
Entzl, Scott MS
Evans, Deborah LPN
Fox, TenaCNA
Franklin, Veronica RN
Friend, Kellee COTA
Fuentes, Minerva CNA HCA
Fuller, Sarah RN
Gonzalez, Leticia CSW
Goulet, Rosemary LNHA
Gray, Janet RN
Guidry, Deana CNA HCA
Hackett, Danuta ADC
Haire, Sandra PT-A
Hale, Jane
Hankey, Rebecca
Heim, Patricia LPN
Hlabse,Jennifer LPN
Ho, Shirline LPN
James, Vicki RN
Jennine, Elardo MA
Johnson, Janice ADC
Jones, Brenda Lynn
Kret, Sandra RN

NCCDP is proud to welcome our new trainers:

Carol White MSW ACSW LCSW CDP
Charlene Brosius RN, CDP
Charles Larobis RN BSN CDP
Denise Bishop MSW,CDP
Diane Taylor BSN RN CDP
Edward McMahon Ph.D LCSW CDP
Helena Ford RN, BSPA, CDP
Janice Mullen LCSW CDP
Kathy Strang R.N. BSN LCSW CDP
Kevin Pembrook NHA, NFA CDP
Lynette Krambeer-Morney BA, ADC,CNA, CDP
Maureen Bradley ACC MSS LCSW CDP
Megan Dunfee RN BSN MS
Nancy Bourne RN BSN CDP
Nancy Dondag MA RDT BCT LCAT CDP
Pam Lancaster BS LNHA CDP
Patti Hughes RNC CDP
Sandra Burrows LCSW ACC MSS CDP
Valerie D. Bingham MA LNFA BSW CDP
Valerie Daniel MSW LSW

COMING SOON: CEUS ON LINE

We are currently in the process of automating our free cues program. Currently, the free CEU’s are located in the Alzheimer’s Care Guide Magazine. Once you read the article and take the test, the test is forwarded by mail to the NCCDP corporate office for grading and a certificate. Once our software is completed, the CDP’s will be able to read the article in the Alzheimer’s Care Guide Magazine or their Activity Magazine and instead of mailing the test, the CDP will simply log on to the NCCDP web site and complete the test online. The test will be graded immediately and if there is a passing grade, the CDP will print out a CEU certificate. Keep watching the web site for details.

In The News

NCCDP partnered with Fred Sganga Executive Director of the Long Island State Veterans Home and wrote an article for publication in the upcoming fall publication of Advance Magazine for Long Term Care. The article addresses policy and procedures for dementia units. If you do not currently receive this publication, you can log on to the web site and sign up for the magazine. http://long-term-care.advanceweb.com/ We recommend the Policy and Procedure manual for Dementia units at www.activitytherapy.com web site.

Associate Membership and Corporate Membership

NCCDP offers individual associate membership and corporate membership on an annual basis. The individual associate membership receives a NCCDP pin and their name is placed on our web site. The Corporate membership is provided with a pretty and professional certificate that can be displayed in your lobby and their name placed on our home page as well as in the corporate membership page. Please see our web site for details.

Take Precautions During Community Outings With Your Dementia Residents
Sandra Stimson CALA, ADC, CDP
Executive Director

Dementia residents can attend facility trips as long as precautions have been taken. There are some residents who would not benefit from attending community trips because they are fearful once off the unit or when it is extremely difficult to bring a dementia resident back to the unit. The staff should discuss as a team which residents would be appropriate and who would benefit from a community trip. The most important aspect to consider is the safety of the resident.

Some questions to ask when considering a resident for a community outing are:
1. Would they enjoy the outing?
2. Are they fearful when off the unit?
3. If they have already taken a trip, did they enjoy the trip or were their concerns?
4. Is it difficult to return the resident to the dementia unit?
5. Is the resident violent?
6. What safety precautions would you need to take when the resident is off the unit?
7. If the resident is in a wheelchair, can they maneuver their wheel chair or do they need assistance?
8. If the resident ambulates, do they need assistance?
9. How much additional staff would you need if you took this resident off the unit?
10. Does the resident have proper identification?
11. Does the resident (if a wanderer) have GPS tracking system or Project Lifesaver?
12. What type of setting are you taking the resident too? For example, apple orchard, diner, pet shop, etc.
13. Is the resident on a special diet? Are adaptive devices used?
14. Is the resident on special medications with time frames?

When ever there is a community outing, the Director of Nursing should insure that a nursing assistant is accompanying the residents. At times, some communities have only taken an activity staff member. Why take the chance of something happening? It only makes sense to insure that there is an appropriate number of activity staff as well as a nursing assistant attending the trips. Some assisted living communities do not utilize a bus driver, which leaves only the activity staff to drive the bus and monitor the residents. This is a disaster waiting to happen. There are safety concerns while on the bus, such as falls and many concerns once they arrive at the destination. The biggest concern of course is someone wandering away from the group.

The destination should be well thought out. An activity assistant once took 8 residents by herself to an apple orchard and parked in a secluded location. Because of the density of the apple orchard, she immediately lost a resident and did not have a cell phone to call for help. Another facility took their residents to Statue of Liberty. Anyone who has ever been to the Statue of Liberty will tell you how crowded it is. The resident ended up in New York City and was missing for 24 hours. In both situations, the residents were found by law enforcement and were unharmed. They were very lucky.

It is important to pick a destination that is contained, such as a small diner or a small pet store. Some of the trips might be a drive through the park. Large department stores, county fairs, etc may not be good venues for the dementia resident. Even if the residents are not getting off the bus, you should have adequate staff on the bus to monitor the residents. Once you arrive at your destination, never leave your group unattended and constantly do a head count. If this is someone with a history of elopement, assign a specific staff member to only monitor that specific resident. Be sure that everyone in your group has an ID bracelet with their name and name of your community. Some facilities have the residents all wear facility T Shirts with the name of their community on the shirt. Plan to have enough staff to provide safe supervision.

When planning the trip, the destinations should be a short drive. Once there, allow about 45 minutes to an hour and than return. Anything longer than that is probably too tiring for the dementia resident. They would enjoy the trip much more if it is a short duration.

Always leave with the receptionist and the nursing departments the names of the residents and staff who are attending the trip, time of departure and time of return, name of location, address and phone number. If you are contracting for transportation, include the name on your trip form. Additionally, provide your cell phone number. Have the dietary department provide drinks and snacks such as Orange Juice and Graham crackers. Always carry a cell phone in case of an emergency. Should there be an emergency or an elopement, immediately notify the facility administration staff and 911 if necessary. If it is an elopement you should immediately call 911 for assistance. If the resident has Project Lifesaver, be sure to notify the 911 operator.

Dementia residents will have an enjoyable and safe trip as long as safety precautions are put into place and implemented.