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 Supportive
measures has come a long way
Fraser sees shining examples of success
Friday December 19, 2003 By Natalie Miller
At West Lake Terrace, staff weaned a man, with a history of requiring wrist
restraints, off of four anti-psychotic drugs.
At Springdale Country Manor, the entire home changed its schedule to suit
a resident who sleeps all day long.
At Rosebridge Manor, a consistent approach to care helped transform a severe
recluse into a sociable person who mingles with her co-residents and staff.
In all of these cases, residents have been given the opportunity to return,
in some respects, to the person they were before the onset of dementia or
before they entered long-term care. These and several other success stories
shared with the OMNIway during the past year suggest supportive measures
is becoming ingrained in the homes’ culture.
Through employing supportive measures, staff members in OMNI homes have
been able to make changes that dramatically alter quality of life for residents.
“(Employees) are living it and breathing it every day,” says
Shawn Riel, who works in operations for OMNI and is leading the supportive
measures movement.
“My overall sense is there’s a lot of buy-in. Our staff are
quietly very good at looking a individual needs,” Shawn says. “It’s
sort of their natural way of doing things.”
Since 1997, OMNI has offered employees the opportunity to take training
in supportive measures, previously called behaviour management. OMNI was
yearning to improve overall quality of life for residents and was seeking
alternatives to the use of psychotropic medication to calm aggressive tendencies,
which can be a symptom of dementia.
Supportive measures is a philosophy and approach to care that involves employing
creative techniques to address resident agitation. It also decreases the
reliance on psychotropic medication. While medication is obviously necessary
in some cases, employees explore creative ways to decrease aggressive behaviours
through interventions like heat therapy, music, exercise and altering the
environment.
Initially, approximately 275 people in departments ranging from nursing
to housekeeping at OMNI’s 16 homes expressed interest in supportive
measures and took the preliminary training in December 2000 with Len Fabiano,
supportive measures guru. Through FCS International, OMNI offered a three-day
Supportive Therapy Certificate Program.
Earlier this year, Shawn visited the homes and selected 32 people to take
the training course to become supportive measures specialists.
Last month, OMNI’s CEO Fraser Wilson and Shawn visited the homes again
with the intention of getting all staff energized about the innovative care
approach. Fraser asked employees to share with him the successes they’ve
had when employing supportive measures. He got an earful.
“I’ve had a blast coming out here,” says Fraser in an
interview with the OMNIway.
He heard “incredible” stories about staff “not giving
up on anybody. Our staff (is) essentially not taking no for an answer,”
says Fraser.
Fraser shared several success stories with the OMNIway.
At West Lake, a man with a history of requiring wrist restraints and anti-psychotic
medications, arrived in the home’s care at the end of October. He
was hallucinating, dehydrated, undernourished and had difficulty walking.
“His facility for walking and eating…was diminished,”
said Angie Moase, clinical co-ordinator at the Bloomfield long-term care
home, in an earlier interview.
The supportive measures team called on the expertise of the in-house physician
to determine what medication the resident required. After reducing him to
a minimal amount, chest X-rays and blood work were completed to determine
if there were underlying causes for his delirium, says Angie.
She notes after the medication was revisited, they were able to employ other
supportive measures interventions. “He was eating properly, wasn’t
restrained and didn’t hallucinate,” says Angie. The man was
also improving because he was eating an ideal amount of food and drinking
adequate fluids.
“We looked at the physical (health), the history and talked to his
family,” says Angie.
“He was slowly coming back to himself.”
At Rosebridge Manor during the ice storm of 1998, staff had to carry a resident
out to the waiting bus because she refused to leave her room. Generally,
she declined care, avoided socializing and ate her meals alone in the foyer
of the long-term care home. Occasionally, she would emerge from her room,
walk down the hallway and tap on doors, before returning to her quarters.
However, by giving her space, staff members at Rosebridge Manor have changed
her world, according to a supportive measures specialist.
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| In an effort to bring
you independent news about the OMNI community, this
story was prepared by a third party news provider,
Axiom
News Services. It has not been subject
to prior editorial approval by OMNI Health Care. |
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'We
looked at the physical (health), the history and talked to his family.
He was slowly coming back to himself'
--Angie Moase, clinical co-ordinator, West Lake
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