Supportive measures: there’s a lot in a name
Wednesday December 5, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
At one time there was no name for supportive measures — they were simply procedures undertaken in long-term care homes to help better accommodate residents and tend to their needs, says Darlene Thibault, supportive measures specialist and life enrichment co-ordinator at Almonte Country Haven.

By giving these practices a name and creating a structured protocol for their use, supportive measures are being brought to the forefront of the long-term care sector, she adds.

“I think the difference between now and then, in all honesty, is that we’re doing it now with more cognizance,” says Thibault. “Yes, we might have (always) been doing it, but with the influx of education that we’ve provided the staff, now we’re able to provide supportive measures to residents with awareness. . . . It’s very human to want to take care of someone who is in distress. Now we have the tools to do that with knowledge.”

Each of OMNI’s 16 long-term care homes is set to have every staff member fully trained in supportive measures by Dec. 31.

Supportive measures training began in early 2007 with staff members receiving education in four areas of supportive measures throughout the year — Alzheimer’s and difficult behaviours, the aging process, purpose-filled days and quality of life for residents.

“Everybody seems to be quite receptive to it,” says Thibault, when asked how the training process has been.

To date, Thibault says the Ottawa-area long-term care home is on track to hitting the target, with only about 20 of the approximately 100 staff members left to train. The lion’s share of employees who are yet to be trained are casual workers, she notes.

The largest obstacle in the training process, she adds, is the time factor.

“The biggest challenge is just having the staff around and trying to find the time to train them,” she says. “You have to make the time.”

When OMNI had supportive measures training in the past, it was done in a large group setting. Rather than training a group of individuals, this round of supportive measures training is focusing on one-to-one sessions with staff members, which gives the training a more personal note, Thibault adds.