Bloomington Cove's October Meeting--Partnering Together for Change!

At the October Meeting of the Bloomington Cove CCC the team came together to vote on a new name.  Bloomington Cove CCC has been re-named "Partnering Together for Change"  .

Bloomington Cove is a LTC facility that is focussed on serving individuals living with dementia and related issues.  Partnering Together for Change is new name which reflects the excellent work done by all members of the team over nearly two years to create a space which is connected and committed to one another and in which diverse perspectives are valued.

To that end, at the October meeting, the team came together to analyze transcripts of focus group data that focused on the voices and perspectives of family partners in care.  Family members were asked to discuss their experiences and perspectives of their interaction with all aspects of Bloomington Cove. The team looked at this data and asked the following questions:

1) What does this information tell us about what an ideal care experience would like for staff, residents and family members?

2) What does this information tell us about what is working well? What do people feel most proud of?

3) What is going on when things are working well (how do people feel, what are they doing, how are they treated,etc)?

These questions lie at the heart of the Appreciative Inquiry process and are integral in the Discovery Phase of the culture change initiative, which aims to discover 'the best of what is' in a given organization.  With this analysis, the team at Bloomington Cove can form, in the next phases of the project, aspiration statements that build on these positive experiences and will lead to thoughtful, long-standing positive change.

By collecting data, narratives and experiences from family members, the Partnering Together for Change Team also reaffirms their commitment to Relationship-Centered Care. By ensuring that everyone involved in dementia (including  individuals living with dementia), have a chance to be heard and express their desires and experiences, there is greater opportunity to increase quality of care and quality of life for everyone involved in the Bloomington Cove experience. When family partners in care, staff, administration and people living with dementia all feel as though their needs and experiences are heard, quality of care will increase.

In the preliminary data analysis, the Partnering Together for Change Team rreaffirmed that family partners in care at Bloomington Cove feel that their family members are being taken care of, and in particular, appreciate the humour and friendliness that staff employs in working with residents.  By reviewing the transcripts, the team felt a renewed sense of appreciation for both front line staff members and family partners in care.  Together, the team strategized about ways to increase the number of stories from individuals living with dementia, to ensure their voices are consistently heard throughout this process.

Upcoming meetings will see the Partnering Together for Change team continue data analysis and celebrate their progress with a holiday celebration in December.

October 2012 Meeting of the Huron County CCC: Hearing from Persons Living with Dementia

On an extremely windy and rainy day in October, members of the Huron County CCC met in Seaforth to begin their first meeting in which the group would come together to begin analysis of data from the Discover phase of the Appreciative Inquiry process.

From the Culture Change Toolkit: "Discovery is the second phase of the Appreciative Inquiry process where the team works to discover what gives life to an organization or community when it is at its best. It involves gathering stories and opinions from as many people within the organization or community as possible to learn about the factors that contribute to its success. Discovery is most effective when all voices within the organization or community are heard".

The rain and wind kept many CCC members from attending as power outages across the region required team members to attend to clients reliant on machinery and tools requiring electricity.  The Huron County CCC is made up of members from various community groups and is not, as are other CCC's linked to a single Long Term Care (LTC) facility. Most community groups are oriented towards providing care for individuals living with dementia in their home. 

The group was enthusiastic about beginning to analyze data related to questions about quality of life from people living with dementia. In their next meetings, the CCC will analyze data from other stakeholders, like staff, family members and others to get a well-rounded picture of experiences of client care. This sort of analysis is extremely rich because it is done by people who also have first-hand experience in working with individuals who are living with dementia. Their experiences and knowledge add an additional layer to the interpretation of the data.  These team members are also actively involved in the data collection process and, true to the AI framework, are instrumental in deciding what sort of data will be collected, from whom. The group also collaborates to decide what data collection methods might best suit their needs.

CCC members at Huron County have been enthusiastic about being involved in data collection as well as analysis.  Looking at narratives from persons living with dementia, CCC members used the Appreciative Inquiry process to ask what they learn from the data. After familiarizing themselves with the raw data, CCC members answered the following questions which are rooted inthe Appreciative Inquiry Methodology.

1. What does this information tell us about what an ideal care experience would look like for residents/clients (persons living with dementia)?
2. What does this information tell us about what is working well?  What do people feel most proud of?
3. What is going on when things are working well? (how do people feel, what are they doing, how are they treated?)
4. After reading this information, what recommendations would you make?  What should happen more? What might need to change? 

These questions are designed to help Discover 'the best of what is' in terms of current care practices among members of the Huron County CCC.  By learning what works best in the Discover phase, the CCC team will be able, in subsequent phases of the project, to expand on those aspects of care that work well to other areas.

Analysis is still in early stages, but what is clear from the onset is that individuals living with dementia are happiest and feel most comfortable when there are few barriers to accessing care and support from community groups and when there is opportunity for one on one social contact. 

MAREP and PiDC Researchers at the Canadian Association of Gerontology

At the Canadian Association of Gerontology Annual Meetings in Vancouver, BC on Friday October 19th, from 3-4:30 pm PiDC team members will collaborate on a session entitled The Partnership in Dementia Care Alliance .  During the session: 

Dr. Sherry Dupuis will give a paper co-authored with Dr. Lisa Meschino, entitled Supporting Inclusiveness in Culture Change at Bloomington Cove Specialty Care    (Abstract here).  The paper will discuss the work to date at Bloomington Cove where the CCC has worked to foster inclusiveness and has begun work on analyzing the data collected during the Discovery Phase of the Appreciative Inquiry process.

 Dr. Jenny Ploeg will give a paper co-authored with Jessica Luh-Kim entitled The Culture Change Coalition at Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care (Abstract here). In it, Dr. Ploeg discuss the work to date at the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in Markham.  Dr. Ploeg will discuss how the Yee Hong CCC, which serves a primarily Chinese and South Asian  population, incorporates an understanding of specific cultural traditions in their approach to Culture Change in the Dawning phase of the Appreciative Inquiry process. 

Jennifer Carson will give a paper co-authored with Dr. Carrie McAiney entitled Building on an Organization-Wide Culture Change Initiative: The Experience at the Village of Wentworth Heights (Abstract here).  In it, Jennifer will discuss the unique process of culture change at The Village of Wentworth Heights and talk about her findings and experiences in facilitating an organization-wide culture change process and share the experiences of a PiDC site working in the Deliver or Destiny phase.

 Dr. Lorna De Witt will give a paper co-authored by Jennifer Gillies entitled Collaborative Relationships in a Community Care Partnership (Abstract here).  In it, she will share PiDC experiences in the creation of the Dawning phase of Appreciative Inquiry and talk about how this phase, new to the traditional Appreciative Inquiry process, helps CCC’s foster authentic relationships and sets the stage for the subsequent four stages: Discovery; Dream; Design; and Deliver.

Other papers written by MAREP partners at the Annual Meetings include: 

Dr. Elaine Wiersma's paper entitled "Taking a Social-Ecological Approach to Self-Management for People Living with Dementia" taking place on Friday, October 19th at 8am. 

Colleen Whyte's paper entitled "Exploring Tensions between Policy, Practice and Lived Experience in Long-Term Care"   taking place on Friday October 19th at 8am. 



Other Activities:  On Friday October 19th, MAREP's Dr. Sherry Dupuis will facilitate a conversation entitled "Advancign Culture Change in Canada"  This is hosted by the Research Institute for Aging.   Dr. Josie d'Avernas of the RIA, Doctoral Candidate Jennifer Carson of UWaterloo and Schlegel Villages and Dr. Peter Reid of the Pioneer Network will give short presentations.  The goal of this Special Interest Group is to contribute to dialogue intended to outline strategies to nurther the growing Canadian Culture Change Movement. 

 

 

PiDC Co-Prinicipal Investigator Inducted into the Academy of Leisure Sciences

In May 2012, Dr. Sherry Dupuis, Director of MAREP and the co-Prinicipal Investigator of the Partnership in Dementia Care (PiDC) Alliance was elected as a Fellow to the Academy of Leisure Sciences.  Dr. Dupuis was one of just five outstanding researchers to be included in group in 2012. Just over 100 scholars have been elected as a fellow to the Academy since its inception in 1980.

Criteria for election as a fellow includes a recognition of Dr. Dupuis' contributions to scholarly literature, recognized leadership and outstanding performance as a teacher, leader, administrator, practitioner, or reseearcher in the field of leisure.  Dr. Dupuis will be welcomed formally as a fellow on Thursday, October 18 at the Academy's Annual Luncheon and business meeting in Anaheim, California.

The PiDC Alliance and the MAREP team wish to congratulate Dr. Dupuis on this tremendous professional achievement. 

October Meeting: Village of Wentworth Heights

The Village of Wentworth Heights is a Schlegel Village and a member of the PiDC project.     The Schlegel Villages have championed their own AI process and are at the Destiny phase of their work, similar to the Deliver phase of the AI process that the other CCC groups are using (See PiDC toolkit for more info on the AI process and Culture Change).  Part of this process has included a three day Appreciative Inquiry Summit in which members of front line staff and the leadership team, alongside family members and persons living with dementia worked through the discover, dream, and design phases together.    

The Village of Wentworth Heights works with a Village Advisory Team (VAT), similar to a Culture Change Coalition (CCC). This team, which has called themselves "Reaching for New Heights" (RFNH) works together to meet their identified aspiration statements, such as ‘offering flexible living and dining’ and increasing ‘shared and meaningful activities’.

During the October meeting, the Reaching for New Heights team, including residents living with dementia, and staff members such as Personal Support Workers, RNs, food services staff and managers, recreation specialists, and management came together to review data from a survey of residents which was used to ascertain quality of life information about the lived experiences of residents in the Village and in other Schlegel homes. RFNH members discussed the results and worked to discuss possibilities for building on positive results and for expanding those successful methods to other areas of the survey results which were understood to ‘need work’.  RFNH members spoke of their experiences in ways in which, for instance, Schlegel staff members worked together to improve recreation and other experiences for residents.  The Village of Wentworth Heights is very enthusiastic about the process thus far and is looking forward to ongoing collaboration.

October Meeting-- Yee Hong CCC

 

 The Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in Markham is a LTC home for approximately 200 adults, primarily of Chinese and Asian descent. This home is working through the Dawning Phase of the AI process and is working on maintaining and building existing Authentic Partnerships

At their October meeting, older and new members of the Yee Hong Culture Change Coalition (CCC) shared a meal together.  CCC members, including: front line staff; management; and family members of individuals living with dementia discussed the Dawning process at the Yee Hong CCC thus far.  

The group began with 'Icebreaker' exercises in which individuals learned more about the interests and roles of fellow CCC members.  These were followed by a reflective group activity in which CCC members talked about what contributions they felt they individually could make to the CCC. This exercise reinforced to members that their experiences and personal knowledge has enormous value in terms of effecting positive culture change at Yee Hong.  Some of these exercises and a further explanation of the process can be found in the PiDC Toolkit.

At the end of the meeting, the CCC members reaffirmed their goals to continue to see how they might: take a role in culture change; live and work with a courageous, positive attitude; and continue to work towards even stronger relationship building.

The next CCC meeting for Yee Hong will take place in early November.