Supportive measures
a standout of 2006 - Imamovic
Friday, December
22, 2006 -- Craig Anderson
Supportive measures breakthroughs with individual
residents were a principle highlight of 2006 for
Maureen Imamovic, Springdale Country Manor administrator.
The positive effects of the home’s rigorous
supportive measures program, established by the
supportive measures specialist team – Kathy
Shule, Clinical Care Coordinator, Scott Laducier,
PSW, Sandra Munro, PSW, and Kathy McKeown, Activation
Aide – are seen daily, says Imamovic.
“I wouldn’t be able to tell you how
much they have brought to the home,” she
says.
The team developed an assessment form available
to all of the home’s employees. (See:
Supportive
measures requires 70 pairs of eyes at Springdale.)
Using the form, any staff member can document
changes in a resident’s behaviour. A staff
member filling out the form will later meet with
the team so that a new strategy or care plan can
be developed.
Tailored care approaches to individual residents,
a hallmark of supportive measures, continue to
make an impact at the home.
Imamovic points to the recent arrival of a resident
who was very close with her dog. With dogs not
traditionally allowed to live in long term care
homes, staff had a conundrum – how to keep
the two together.
The staff realized that the resident’s
daughter lived across the street from the home.
This provided a solution: the dog could live with
the daughter and visit the home during the day.
Creative solutions such as these, says Imamovic,
underscore the supportive measures approach.
“With supportive measures, [the question
is] ‘why can’t it work?’”
says Imamovic. “It’s allowed us to
do these types of things.”
Beginning her second year as administrator, Imamovic
hopes to continue to deepen supportive measures
practice and “bring it to the next level.”
This will also involve more extensive staff training
to meet OMNI’s expectation that all of its
staff are trained in supportive measures by the
end of 2007.
Looking to 2007, Imamovic is excited about Best
Practice teams, in which groups of managers will
meet to develop benchmarks to help homes determine
the efficacy of different departments.
Measuring the work of different departments,
says Imamovic, will provide an opportunity to
show respect for the home’s staff, and the
ways that every staff member – from nursing
to housecleaning – plays a role in making
Springdale a home for its residents.
“I want everybody to realize the value
they bring,” she says.
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