The eastern-Ontario long-term care home will be moving residents from a small dining room currently used for therapeutic purposes to the main dining room.

“We’re looking at making that our supportive measures dining room,” says Sue Burnell-Jones, director of care.

“That will tie in with the training program we’re rolling out.”

Almonte, along with OMNI’s other 15 long-term care homes, are scheduled to begin an education program in January to acquaint all staff members with supportive measures.

Supportive measures is a practice whereby caregivers focus on individual needs and preferences of residents living with Alzheimer disease or related dementia, to increase quality of life. By identifying factors that trigger resident agitation, supportive measures can be put in place to remove many of these factors from the resident’s daily life. Behaviour mapping, medication mapping, and the use of resident assessments to determine resident needs, strengths and preferences are all part of the supportive measures discipline.

“We have the training room ready to go,” says Collins Ferguson, supportive measures specialist.

“We’ve had two or three meetings. We’re waiting for a package (from home office).”

Sue says the first component of the supportive measures teaching involves education about frontal lobe dementia. Once employees have the in-class training, they’ll experience the hands-on component in the dining room setting. “The staff will be able to see what the behaviours are, help (the residents) cope and help them eat. It gives (residents) the attention they require.

Meanwhile, the residents currently in the small dining room will still receive extra attention in the main dining room. Those in the therapeutic dining program require assistance with their meals, whether it’s due to weight loss or difficulty eating.

Sue says nursing and supportive measures staff have also involved the nutritional care department in this initiative.