Feature
Supportive measures enhance quality of life for residents
Wednesday December 12, 2007
Since the beginning of this year, every staff member in each department at OMNI’s 16 long-term care homes has had supportive measures training. The four-module program — which is expected to wrap up by the end of 2007 — is one of the many educational opportunities OMNI promotes to enhance best practices across the board.

This is the first time in the organization’s 
history that every member of the OMNI family has been required to take supportive measures training. Educating every staff member in the OMNI family allows for broad knowledge of how to identify, assess and demonstrate best practices in supportive measures.

In short, supportive measures are the resident-focused techniques and ideas staff members utilize in order to prevent resident agitation and to ensure residents in long-term care are happy in their home.

In some cases, supportive measures are used today where medication had been used decades ago. Rather than trying to control or subdue behaviours when they occur, staff members in long-term care homes now examine these behaviours to identify why the occur and adjust to the behaviour to accommodate the resident.

Supportive measures can be found in dining rooms, activity areas and in residents’ rooms. In many instances, supportive measures seem like ordinary, day-to-day things.

Practices such as arranging seating plans in dining rooms, providing residents with meaningful work and spending one-to-one time with residents are all daily routines constituting supportive measures in long-term care homes.

With more staff members trained in supportive measures than ever before, residents in OMNI homes are sure to benefit even more from the wonderful care they deserve.

To date, the supportive measures training is on track and supportive measures specialists are confident they will reach their goal of a Dec. 31 completion.