Dementia Education; Why

00:02.862 --> 00:06.142
That's the basis of the dementia connection model. It's being able to provide sensory based

00:06.190 --> 00:09.427
techniques to tap into that limbic system that help to

00:09.520 --> 00:12.957
actually influence positive emotions and positive memories.

00:13.047 --> 00:16.752
And so Jessica and I teach upon it in our seminars

00:16.782 --> 00:19.972
and our certifications and, and for us,

00:20.005 --> 00:23.197
it's kind of the helm of what we're trying to get out there in terms

00:23.230 --> 00:26.997
of nonpharmacy approaches, but we use those same techniques,

00:27.042 --> 00:30.050
which is funny when we're educating students, too.

00:41.212 --> 00:45.147
Welcome to the nursing home podcast. Your goto source

00:45.192 --> 00:48.462
for professional insights in the long term care industry.

00:48.612 --> 00:52.602
Hear from leaders and experts as they share current and practical insights

00:52.632 --> 00:56.382
to help make the most of your day. I'm the long term care financial specialist.

00:56.472 --> 01:00.472
What that means is I help people plan for the inevitable. Nobody wants

01:00.505 --> 01:03.652
to think about getting old, but it's possible that someday we might need a little

01:03.670 --> 01:07.782
bit of care. Here's your host. Nursing home Administrator Turnpodcaster

01:07.872 --> 01:09.587
Schmoel, Septimash.

01:12.187 --> 01:16.027
Welcome to another live broadcast of the

01:16.045 --> 01:20.097
Nursing Home Podcast, the podcast that you've learned

01:20.217 --> 01:23.722
to turn to to get real information about what

01:23.755 --> 01:27.232
is going on in the nursing home world from Boots on the

01:27.235 --> 01:31.297
ground for people who are actually living and breathing and living

01:31.330 --> 01:35.532
and breathing this experience. Hopefully everyone that goes on every podcast is living and breathing,

01:35.697 --> 01:39.787
but they're actually living and breathing the nursing home space

01:39.850 --> 01:43.612
and whatever it is that they're doing. In today's episode, we are going to focus

01:43.675 --> 01:47.127
on dementia training. This is something that we have not touched

01:47.157 --> 01:50.227
on. I don't think so. Correct me

01:50.245 --> 01:53.287
if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've touched on this in the past.

01:53.425 --> 01:57.627
And today's guest is today's

01:57.657 --> 02:01.562
guest is Dr. Jennifer Stelter, also known as the Oil Doctor.

02:02.137 --> 02:05.877
She's a clinical psychologist and author of The Busy

02:05.907 --> 02:09.207
Caregivers Guide to Advanced Alzheimer's Disease.

02:09.297 --> 02:13.387
Hollished by John Hopkins Press. With over twelve years of experience

02:13.450 --> 02:17.077
in senior living, So welcome to

02:17.095 --> 02:20.600
the show. Thank you so much for having us. We appreciate it.

02:20.962 --> 02:25.162
Okay, well, it's a pleasure having you here and

02:25.225 --> 02:28.537
I know that we have with you Jessica, your business

02:28.600 --> 02:31.822
partner. Jessica Ryan is with us as well. So Jessica, welcome to the show.

02:31.930 --> 02:35.497
Thank you. We're excited to have you

02:35.530 --> 02:39.412
both with us to discuss this important subject. Before we do,

02:39.475 --> 02:43.152
I guess we'll start with you, Jennifer, if you don't mind just sharing

02:43.257 --> 02:46.947
with us a little bit of maybe your shared journey,

02:47.067 --> 02:49.972
but pretty much how do you get to doing what you're doing right now so

02:50.005 --> 02:53.352
that our listeners and viewers can have a better idea of who they're listening

02:53.382 --> 02:56.482
to? Absolutely. So I know a lot

02:56.485 --> 03:00.232
of people get into the dementia care space because they have been a

03:00.235 --> 03:03.742
caregiver themselves in some respects. And my journey is a little bit different.

03:03.790 --> 03:06.942
I mean, I did work with my family intimately

03:07.002 --> 03:10.752
when my grandmother in law had Alzheimer's disease, but that's

03:10.782 --> 03:13.672
not why I got into the business. I was actually in the throes of the

03:13.705 --> 03:17.062
business at that time. So I was a nice asset to

03:17.200 --> 03:20.797
my family here. But really, my journey started a long time

03:20.830 --> 03:24.592
ago, even before I went to college actually was

03:24.640 --> 03:27.952
on. I'm a clinical psychologist by trade, as you mentioned, and I went on my

03:27.970 --> 03:31.077
own mental health journey. And during that mental health journey,

03:31.107 --> 03:34.842
I learned just the power of non pharmacological

03:34.902 --> 03:38.767
approaches and coping skills and how that can really help someone in

03:38.815 --> 03:42.552
the throes of their mental health journey.

03:42.582 --> 03:46.852
And so for me, it was really a powerful realization of

03:46.870 --> 03:50.227
being able to use these skills day in and day out to

03:50.245 --> 03:54.052
really nourish myself. And so at that point, I decided I

03:54.070 --> 03:56.752
really want to get in the field and give back. And so that's when I

03:56.770 --> 04:01.242
decided that I want to be a psychologist. And so throughout

04:01.302 --> 04:05.442
that half my career, I spent really focusing

04:05.502 --> 04:08.872
on individuals who had mental health disorders and

04:08.905 --> 04:12.702
concerns and worked in all facets of different settings and provided

04:12.732 --> 04:16.957
therapy and all kinds of services and whatnot. And actually

04:17.035 --> 04:20.347
when I then transition over to the

04:20.380 --> 04:23.902
senior living environment, that's when I

04:23.920 --> 04:27.352
really got to become more intimate with the individuals who

04:27.370 --> 04:30.912
have dementia, staff members who work with them family caregivers,

04:31.062 --> 04:34.522
and really were able to transition that love

04:34.555 --> 04:38.632
and passion for nonpharmacy really over to the dementia care space.

04:38.785 --> 04:42.352
And so it was really it just made sense to me because I

04:42.370 --> 04:46.527
know that folks in senior living are just really grasping

04:46.557 --> 04:50.407
at straws when it comes to this disease and what to do about it.

04:50.560 --> 04:54.277
And so my ability to and my passion to

04:54.295 --> 04:58.317
really know that nonpharmacy really can be across the gamut when it comes to neuro

04:58.377 --> 05:02.547
diseases was what really led me into working with individuals who have dementia.

05:02.667 --> 05:06.252
And so when I transitioned to that space, I actually was working in corporate management

05:06.432 --> 05:10.402
for a major, longterm care company here in the midwest and had

05:10.420 --> 05:14.377
the luxury and ability to be able to work alongside folks with

05:14.395 --> 05:17.857
dementia. And like I said, their caregivers and

05:18.010 --> 05:22.692
start to really apply a lot of what I've learned in the psychological

05:22.752 --> 05:26.082
field to this space, but then, more importantly,

05:26.247 --> 05:29.512
network and be able to further my knowledge and be able to

05:29.575 --> 05:33.027
apply a lot of skill sets that I had to caring

05:33.057 --> 05:36.952
for those with dementia. And that's when I was able to develop the

05:36.970 --> 05:40.175
dementia connection model, which is in the book that you mentioned,

05:40.762 --> 05:44.227
as well as a part of our institute, which we'll talk about here. And then

05:44.245 --> 05:47.527
on that caregiver, on that journey of being able to

05:47.545 --> 05:50.892
work with folks who have dementia, I ran into jessica Ryan,

05:50.952 --> 05:54.307
my business partner to today. And so

05:54.385 --> 05:58.117
we actually I was helping design a space for a company

05:58.165 --> 06:01.627
that was consulting with here in the midwest. And she came knocking on

06:01.645 --> 06:05.002
my door and she said, I have another nonpharmacological intervention for you that

06:05.020 --> 06:08.377
you need to try, and it was aromatherapy. And so,

06:08.395 --> 06:11.572
Jess, I'll let you tell them about your journey as well and how we came

06:11.605 --> 06:14.592
to be too. Yeah. So my name is Jessica Ryan.

06:14.652 --> 06:18.212
I'm a biologist and educator by profession.

06:20.887 --> 06:24.172
I have an 18 year old son who at three years

06:24.205 --> 06:26.877
old, started to have some neurological deficits,

06:26.982 --> 06:31.562
and I did not want to use regular western medicine,

06:32.212 --> 06:35.587
any type of psychotropic medication for him. And so I

06:35.650 --> 06:39.762
was starting to seek out nonpharmacy approaches, and I came upon

06:39.837 --> 06:44.172
essential oils and aromatherapy. They became extremely

06:44.292 --> 06:48.562
beneficial. And I began, because of my biology mind,

06:48.625 --> 06:52.522
I wanted to learn and understand the science of it. And so I got

06:52.630 --> 06:55.837
very educated about that and began educating others.

06:55.975 --> 06:59.362
And of course, at one of my workshops, I ran into Dr.

06:59.425 --> 07:02.827
Seltzer, and I did I very

07:02.845 --> 07:06.082
much am in the brain health sort of sector, if you will.

07:06.160 --> 07:09.487
And so with what she was doing,

07:09.625 --> 07:13.522
I really kind of relayed some other approaches that she could use

07:13.555 --> 07:16.357
with her patients. And she brought that in.

07:16.435 --> 07:20.300
And when it worked, we kind of started our relationship

07:20.662 --> 07:24.702
and it grew, and it's become this and we've

07:24.732 --> 07:28.477
built a business out of trying to help folks from a

07:28.495 --> 07:31.692
nonpharmacy approach. And so that's kind of how we arrived

07:31.752 --> 07:36.042
here. Yeah. So we originally developed neuroscence,

07:36.102 --> 07:40.117
which is our company, and the idea that,

07:40.240 --> 07:43.792
you know, neuro is our brain and essence is the essence of our well being.

07:43.840 --> 07:47.572
And we want to be able to provide people with all the education that they

07:47.605 --> 07:51.142
need to be able to make good, informed decisions about

07:51.190 --> 07:54.472
their health. And so more recently, as we've been

07:54.505 --> 07:57.877
going through this space, we've said, you know what, we really know that

07:57.895 --> 08:01.582
the need is in dementia care. And because my background is in dementia care,

08:01.660 --> 08:05.032
this is a no brainer. Let's go ahead and have neuroscience open up the

08:05.035 --> 08:08.662
Dementia Connection Institute, which opened up in January, and that's how we

08:08.800 --> 08:11.977
came to be here today with you. Wow.

08:12.070 --> 08:15.697
Very interesting. So definitely a very

08:15.730 --> 08:19.732
interesting way of applying both of your personal

08:19.810 --> 08:23.197
experiences, both a very strong wise as to why

08:23.230 --> 08:26.992
you're doing what you're doing, and clearly very passionate about

08:27.040 --> 08:31.362
what you're doing. You're applying it to a very underserved

08:31.512 --> 08:35.242
piece, a very underserved part of the health care

08:35.290 --> 08:38.682
system. So any additional assistance

08:38.772 --> 08:41.087
is always very much welcomed.

08:41.887 --> 08:45.137
Why that is beyond the scope of today's conversation.

08:46.237 --> 08:49.447
But let's focus, let's zoom out for a minute about

08:49.480 --> 08:52.777
dementia care in general. So we know that a very large,

08:52.945 --> 08:56.922
significant portion, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, of the seniors

08:56.967 --> 09:00.552
living in any senior setting, specifically in nursing

09:00.582 --> 09:05.387
homes, but really even assisted living or even sometimes independent,

09:06.412 --> 09:09.737
they're suffering from some level of dementia.

09:10.687 --> 09:14.337
Many times the primary caregivers are going to be a spouse

09:14.412 --> 09:17.632
or a child or a friend or whoever it is that's a

09:17.635 --> 09:21.372
primary caregiver who are not trained at all in dementia.

09:21.417 --> 09:24.987
And a lot of times there's a lot of complex

09:25.062 --> 09:29.237
emotional relationship that gets even more complex,

09:29.887 --> 09:33.877
especially without having the proper training. But even in a

09:33.970 --> 09:38.292
skilled nursing facility so there's a checkbox for the mandatory dementia

09:38.427 --> 09:41.697
education. Many times it's an afterthought.

09:41.742 --> 09:45.277
It might have been a 15 minutes video depending on what the specific

09:45.370 --> 09:46.925
regulations might be.

09:48.937 --> 09:52.852
But one of the things you wanted to discuss is why it is

09:52.945 --> 09:57.702
so poor and so lacking. I think I'm

09:57.732 --> 10:01.812
just telling you from personal experience, I've seen different dementia trainings

10:01.962 --> 10:05.527
happen in person and participated in some of

10:05.545 --> 10:09.417
them. I was also mandated to do that as an administrator

10:09.552 --> 10:12.927
and what was shared

10:13.032 --> 10:16.222
was either just textbook type of things or

10:16.255 --> 10:20.047
things that completely did not actually affect the change that

10:20.155 --> 10:23.982
the staff really would very much appreciate to have the tools

10:23.997 --> 10:27.507
and skills to be able to implement them initially.

10:27.597 --> 10:31.167
And so if that's the case, and I have one memorable

10:31.227 --> 10:35.347
exception to that but if that's the case, then no one's interested in anything.

10:35.530 --> 10:38.407
My kids always ask why do I have to learn this in school? When am

10:38.410 --> 10:41.677
I ever going to use it in real life? I know you can have

10:41.695 --> 10:45.222
a calculator but you still have to know how to do addition and subtraction,

10:45.417 --> 10:47.000
but you don't know it. Okay.

10:48.937 --> 10:55.985
But the point is that I think that's appreciation

10:56.180 --> 10:59.870
for it being necessary and that people think that, oh it's

10:59.885 --> 11:03.510
much have it all figured out, we don't need it. It's just

11:03.542 --> 11:06.785
that if it's just regulatory compliance then we'll do the simplest,

11:06.830 --> 11:10.737
easiest, cheapest thing to check that box. Case in point

11:12.450 --> 11:15.755
a particular resident in the facility

11:15.815 --> 11:18.930
where I was the administrator when was

11:18.977 --> 11:22.835
a very nice person, very strong physically,

11:23.030 --> 11:27.120
which kind of created a challenge deep into their ninety s.

11:27.272 --> 11:30.810
And when this person would get upset or

11:30.842 --> 11:34.485
frustrated and didn't know how to express themselves, it was

11:34.517 --> 11:38.225
dangerous to be close by. Plates would go flying.

11:38.300 --> 11:41.895
I was physically hit just by being in the area

11:42.047 --> 11:45.780
and others as well. And the

11:45.827 --> 11:50.340
knee jerk reaction is okay, send them out to the hospital because we

11:50.357 --> 11:53.775
can't use chemicals, we can use chemical restraints, can use anything

11:53.837 --> 11:57.090
and we just can't deal with this person right now. And the person is a

11:57.107 --> 12:00.660
danger to everyone around, really was and did

12:00.692 --> 12:04.035
hurt other residents. So there's very little

12:04.067 --> 12:07.895
to do with that's. An extreme case. But my point is only and I'll

12:07.910 --> 12:11.570
shut up in a second for you, but my point is only that everyone knows

12:11.585 --> 12:15.665
that it's a necessary thing. But if it's just regulatory compliance

12:15.695 --> 12:19.265
then it's something that's shallow and fake then nobody's

12:19.295 --> 12:22.815
interested. So maybe tell us how we could take this

12:22.832 --> 12:26.475
next level. Whoever wants to take that question. What is an effective training

12:26.537 --> 12:28.825
look like and what does it accomplish?

12:29.925 --> 12:34.110
Yeah, absolutely. I mean you're speaking to the

12:34.142 --> 12:37.170
point that a lot of especially in skilled nursing, right? It's kind of like

12:37.172 --> 12:39.990
the make me industry it's not a regulation, I'm not going to do it.

12:40.007 --> 12:43.260
And it's a regulation. How can I do it with the resources that I have?

12:43.292 --> 12:46.455
Just because I've got things to focus on here, right? All the

12:46.502 --> 12:50.040
other regulatory requirements from a clinical perspective or

12:50.207 --> 12:53.520
census, those kinds of things that matter to an

12:53.597 --> 12:57.087
administrator, executive director, a CEO, those kinds of things.

12:57.825 --> 13:01.035
So you're absolutely right. The pain point is,

13:01.217 --> 13:05.000
what's tangible? What can I use? I know the basics of dementia.

13:05.075 --> 13:08.190
Most of the people in nursing home settings know that,

13:08.282 --> 13:12.030
but they don't know what they can use. That's a tangible thing,

13:12.077 --> 13:15.750
right. And so where this kind of all stems from is

13:15.812 --> 13:19.970
a lot of times, of course, there's so much pressure on nursing homes

13:20.135 --> 13:22.515
where a lot of people want to blame the nursing home for a lot of

13:22.532 --> 13:26.220
things. And that's unfortunate, because when you talk about dementia education,

13:26.372 --> 13:30.015
right, and Jessica and I've talked about this so many times, right? Why is

13:30.032 --> 13:33.765
it not in the curriculum when nurses go to school or

13:33.782 --> 13:37.305
CNAs go to school or even psychologists, right, or other kind

13:37.352 --> 13:41.660
of Pts, OT's? Why is it not in their curriculum about dementia

13:41.705 --> 13:44.985
care? Right? And that's where it should start. And that really

13:45.017 --> 13:49.040
is where they should get the basis of what is dementia, what are some basic

13:49.070 --> 13:52.865
approaches to care? So when they go to whether it's a hospital setting

13:52.895 --> 13:57.170
or they decide to go into senior living or even just a private organization,

13:57.260 --> 14:01.025
they're going to run into either someone who has had dementia,

14:01.175 --> 14:04.905
someone who was just diagnosed, a family member who has it, right,

14:05.027 --> 14:08.100
there's going to be some interaction with it. So having the knowledge of it

14:08.162 --> 14:11.625
early on in their career should be the place where it should start.

14:11.762 --> 14:15.710
It's unfortunate that it really lies on the organizations

14:15.755 --> 14:19.887
in nursing homes to be the powerhouse of education

14:20.250 --> 14:24.165
in dementia care for all of their staff very

14:24.182 --> 14:26.505
much equipped to do. Right, right,

14:26.627 --> 14:29.970
exactly right. Because they have to pay lots of money to be

14:29.972 --> 14:33.765
able to hire people to come in and do these dementia trainings, or they

14:33.782 --> 14:37.200
have to invest in a lot of things because a lot of these folks in

14:37.262 --> 14:40.665
a lot of staff are starting from square one, trying to learn what

14:40.682 --> 14:43.740
is dementia, right? And so I think we need

14:43.757 --> 14:47.235
to be a little more lacked at the nursing home setting to say, you know,

14:47.417 --> 14:50.865
let's give them the resources and tools so they can be successful in training people

14:50.882 --> 14:54.615
with dementia, because they are starting from ground zero. These folks who are

14:54.632 --> 14:58.260
coming into nursing home settings and working have no prior knowledge unless they work

14:58.292 --> 15:01.440
somewhere else before. And what you're carrying over is what they were

15:01.457 --> 15:04.790
trained on before. Right. So we have to be a little more lenient

15:04.820 --> 15:08.565
with this, and we have to provide the resources and tools. So to

15:08.582 --> 15:12.462
that pain point that you had talked about, certainly it is something where

15:13.950 --> 15:17.190
there is that idea of how can

15:17.207 --> 15:20.475
I make this exciting for them? How can I make this worth their while?

15:20.537 --> 15:23.937
Right. And so when we talk about what goes into good dementia training,

15:24.375 --> 15:28.110
it should be something that is on the go and that's quick and easy.

15:28.217 --> 15:32.150
Right. Because we do know that time is of essence, especially in nursing homes,

15:32.225 --> 15:35.915
there's so much that needs to be done and so much regulatory compliance

15:35.945 --> 15:39.690
that needs to be upheld that domestication should be easy.

15:39.782 --> 15:43.625
Right. The other thing is that it should be fun and exciting

15:43.700 --> 15:47.805
interactive. Right. Unfortunately, a lot of times when you have

15:47.852 --> 15:51.735
people go online to do online classes, it's just they read the screen

15:51.917 --> 15:58.175
or they try to hit that button like Next, next flag.

15:58.250 --> 16:01.230
Then they go back and address it. Exactly. Yeah.

16:01.277 --> 16:03.660
How can I get the minimum amount to pass this so I can move out

16:03.692 --> 16:07.512
my day? Right, and that's because it's not very interesting to them

16:08.775 --> 16:12.435
or it's content that they've heard before and there's nothing new that's coming

16:12.467 --> 16:15.810
their way. Right. So that's another pain point. The other

16:15.842 --> 16:19.740
thing, too is that it's hard

16:19.757 --> 16:23.640
for them to remember all that information. Right. I know sometimes in some

16:23.657 --> 16:27.740
states you're required to have 16 hours of orientation before you hit the floor.

16:27.845 --> 16:31.215
That's a lot of dementia training all at once, 16 hours. And then you're supposed

16:31.232 --> 16:34.800
to remember it and then do it. Right. And so that's difficult

16:34.862 --> 16:38.385
too. That's another pain point. I know a lot of people talk about just

16:38.417 --> 16:40.935
I don't know if you have anything more in terms of pain points that we

16:40.967 --> 16:44.130
see in our industry. Just frustration levels being

16:44.177 --> 16:47.862
very high with not being able to really relate with what's going on.

16:48.300 --> 16:52.380
And I think there's a lot of reasons how we can engage them

16:52.502 --> 16:55.815
better by more education and even

16:55.907 --> 16:59.295
just I think one of the things that always kind of blew my mind

16:59.372 --> 17:02.805
was the numbers, the numbers of people who

17:02.852 --> 17:06.945
are getting this disease. Chances are either you

17:07.097 --> 17:10.785
or someone you love is going to have it. And so we need

17:10.817 --> 17:14.235
to educate people more on that and it might be a little bit more

17:14.267 --> 17:17.960
engaging. Yes, I have to do this for my job, but the chances

17:18.005 --> 17:21.630
of me coming across this with a loved one are very high too.

17:21.752 --> 17:24.987
Right. So that I feel is really important.

17:27.525 --> 17:31.335
Right. 100%. No, this is definitely trial just to chime in that

17:31.517 --> 17:34.740
initially, I don't know if this is true, but at least this is

17:34.757 --> 17:38.160
what I heard, is that life insurance was called death insurance,

17:38.342 --> 17:42.645
which is really what it is. Right. But it didn't sell very well.

17:42.722 --> 17:46.085
The reason why it didn't sell very well is because people don't want to confront

17:46.130 --> 17:49.565
their mortality. But if you go life insurance and you're

17:49.595 --> 17:53.550
focusing on the life, whether it means your own life or the life of

17:53.687 --> 17:57.710
your children or descendants or whoever it is your beneficiaries

17:57.905 --> 18:01.170
after you leave, just kind of not focus. Even if it's just

18:01.247 --> 18:04.437
semantics, just referring, just not using those words,

18:04.950 --> 18:08.555
it made the world of a difference, and it's a multibillion dollar industry.

18:08.615 --> 18:12.275
So what you're saying is true but uncomfortable.

18:12.425 --> 18:15.990
Nobody wants to think about it. Everyone can think back to people that

18:16.007 --> 18:19.050
we know who have already passed, that we have

18:19.187 --> 18:22.320
loved ones who have had this disease and we've dealt with it.

18:22.397 --> 18:25.890
But for it to think that that will happen to us and to

18:25.907 --> 18:29.535
think that will happen to anyone else in the future, I think that's a hard

18:29.567 --> 18:33.590
sell. It's true. But I'm just thinking of you talking to the seniors.

18:33.770 --> 18:37.137
I'm 30 years old. I'm a life ahead of me,

18:37.500 --> 18:40.770
unfortunately. We both know there are younger and younger people that

18:40.772 --> 18:45.195
are getting it as well. It's not only the seniors that

18:45.197 --> 18:48.435
are getting it, but that's definitely a hard sell. I have to share

18:48.467 --> 18:52.065
one thing before I forget, is that for sure,

18:52.082 --> 18:53.985
in one of the buildings, I was supposed to get to mention the training.

18:54.017 --> 18:57.815
This is something that kept on getting pushed off, and we're lucky

18:57.845 --> 19:01.110
that we weren't caught by the former public health. Maybe they didn't order

19:01.142 --> 19:05.880
my file or whatever it was just because time

19:05.927 --> 19:08.325
exactly, I said, when do I have time to sit in front of the computer,

19:08.387 --> 19:13.005
go through it, or we actually had someone doing the dimension training when

19:13.052 --> 19:16.605
they, meaning the staff educator, whoever was in the building,

19:16.652 --> 19:20.220
finally said, okay, you got to do this. It actually was a

19:20.222 --> 19:23.580
very engaging, hands on dementia training. What they did for

19:23.627 --> 19:26.385
us in one of the buildings is that they put,

19:26.417 --> 19:30.510
like it was all about vaseline. They put Vezzlene on your

19:30.617 --> 19:34.035
glasses. If you wear glasses, even if you don't wear glasses, they put some

19:34.067 --> 19:37.710
sort of glasses on you. They definitely put

19:37.742 --> 19:41.820
something on the doorknobs as well. And a

19:41.822 --> 19:45.365
few other things actually had to wear very bulky, like mittens instead of gloves.

19:45.395 --> 19:49.020
You don't have to find motor skills something to do with sitting there. Maybe you

19:49.022 --> 19:52.812
had to sit on a wheelchair. And I think there were two people working together,

19:53.400 --> 19:57.387
and your goal was to go shopping, quote unquote, in a room,

19:58.200 --> 20:02.045
get the milk from the fridge, and do some very basic tasks.

20:02.210 --> 20:05.880
And it's extremely difficult to do

20:05.927 --> 20:08.520
anything, to communicate anything.

20:08.597 --> 20:12.480
And it becomes like a fun game, but the point

20:12.527 --> 20:16.035
goes home in a very handson way. Just try

20:16.067 --> 20:19.740
to see it from their perspective. What does it mean? The resident who

20:19.757 --> 20:22.500
threw that plate across the room? Well, why is that?

20:22.562 --> 20:26.420
Well, in their mind, they've been waiting for whatever. And they told you explicitly,

20:26.510 --> 20:29.510
by trying to understand the story, that these are regular,

20:29.555 --> 20:33.245
normal people like all of us, and their limitations,

20:33.335 --> 20:36.780
which is causing them to act out. Act out or

20:36.827 --> 20:40.812
just sometimes the opposite. Sometimes they can retreat into themselves also

20:41.625 --> 20:45.095
and really trying to understand it from their perspective. It was very powerful. I don't

20:45.110 --> 20:48.305
know if I actually did the exercise, but I'm sure I watched the exercise,

20:48.440 --> 20:51.810
and even that really

20:51.842 --> 20:55.215
was a big deal. Anyway, I just thought that was hitting on a lot of

20:55.232 --> 20:58.775
things that you said. It was relevant, it was quick, it was powerful,

20:58.850 --> 21:02.460
it was practical. It wasn't giving coping skills, but it was just

21:02.492 --> 21:05.565
giving an approach to understand in general, you know,

21:05.582 --> 21:09.170
who are the people that are there. But I'm

21:09.185 --> 21:12.675
just curious if you've done anything like that, and what would you suggest if someone

21:12.737 --> 21:15.765
is a staff educator and they're looking to say, okay, I'm listening to this great

21:15.782 --> 21:19.212
podcast, what should I do tomorrow? I'll have to do dementia training.

21:19.650 --> 21:22.865
Yeah, definitely. What you're describing

21:22.895 --> 21:26.025
is that dementia experience, right? And so that

21:26.087 --> 21:29.900
when we talk about learning about what is dementia, that's a very powerful

21:29.975 --> 21:33.615
way to engage the students in that class, right, because they get

21:33.632 --> 21:36.690
to understand what that person with dementia is going through. They can

21:36.707 --> 21:40.605
put themselves in that person's shoes. And when they

21:40.652 --> 21:43.580
themselves feel the feelings of frustration,

21:43.715 --> 21:47.780
anger, loneliness, or maybe anxiety

21:47.915 --> 21:50.985
because of that experience, right, when they take it off,

21:51.017 --> 21:54.885
it's that feeling of, well, you get to take it off, but people

21:54.917 --> 21:58.065
with dementia don't, right? And that's the powerful message

21:58.157 --> 22:01.670
that people are like, whoa, okay, now you've got my attention.

22:01.760 --> 22:05.640
Right? So when educators are doing dementia training, they need to have that

22:05.657 --> 22:09.285
powerful moment to connect their students that gets their attention to

22:09.317 --> 22:12.935
say, this is what is really going on with this disease.

22:13.055 --> 22:15.735
So now are you ready to listen? Kind of a thing, right?

22:15.842 --> 22:19.440
And they were able to do that by using a lot of tactile kinds of

22:19.457 --> 22:23.115
interactive tools within the seminar itself,

22:23.207 --> 22:26.862
right? So that's definitely highly recommended in terms of that.

22:27.450 --> 22:31.260
It also has to be fun and engaging, right, and so to

22:31.292 --> 22:34.665
that piece of the interactive piece, that makes it fun and engaging, but that's got

22:34.682 --> 22:38.535
to carry out through the whole seminar, right? It can't just be that one piece.

22:38.567 --> 22:42.345
So if your seminar is 1 hour, if your seminar is an eight hour training,

22:42.497 --> 22:45.105
you've got to have it carry out through the whole thing, where it's fun,

22:45.152 --> 22:48.735
it's interactive. There might be some group assignments or

22:48.767 --> 22:52.110
one on one assignments where you get them to really critically think through

22:52.142 --> 22:55.055
some things that help them to think on their feet.

22:55.115 --> 22:58.215
Because when you're working with people with dementia and you're caring for

22:58.232 --> 23:00.510
them, you've got to be able to think on your feet. And that's what's really

23:00.542 --> 23:03.990
important. And so a lot of times when we do training, we make it

23:04.007 --> 23:06.765
sensory based, because when we make it sensory based,

23:06.857 --> 23:10.245
right, and this kind of goes back to what works also

23:10.322 --> 23:14.150
for people with dementia is when you do things that are sensorybased,

23:14.300 --> 23:17.790
it's tapping into the limbic system of the brain. And with

23:17.807 --> 23:21.215
the limbic system of the brain, we have two very important organs.

23:21.320 --> 23:25.295
We have the amygdala, which is important for expression of emotion,

23:25.460 --> 23:29.160
and we have the hippocampus, which is important for memory. And so when

23:29.192 --> 23:32.465
we are engaging people from a sensory perspective, we're tapping

23:32.495 --> 23:36.380
into that limbic system, which is generating feel good emotions

23:36.440 --> 23:39.960
because they're learning, they're being educated, right, they're interested,

23:40.142 --> 23:43.740
but it's also tapping into that memory. They're able to learn it more and

23:43.757 --> 23:46.340
have a greater learning advantage when it's interactive,

23:46.445 --> 23:49.737
hands on and sensory based. That's another tip as well.

23:50.925 --> 23:54.687
I would also say, too, that you want to make sure that

23:55.275 --> 23:58.740
there are techniques in there that allow the person to remember

23:58.832 --> 24:03.165
more, right? And so the educator needs to maybe learn

24:03.182 --> 24:06.860
a little bit more about what are some styles of teaching

24:06.980 --> 24:11.255
in order to engage the audience.

24:11.315 --> 24:13.680
And so I'm going to lend it over to Jessica, talk a little more about

24:13.727 --> 24:17.160
some styles of learning that people need to really be on top

24:17.192 --> 24:20.940
of if you're going to become an educator. I used

24:20.957 --> 24:24.335
to teach high school biology, right? Everybody learns differently,

24:24.380 --> 24:28.155
right? So sometimes we learn by visual. So there are those people

24:28.202 --> 24:31.620
who can read something, regurgitate it, they get it, they remember

24:31.697 --> 24:35.145
it. But then there's hands on learning, like you were saying,

24:35.297 --> 24:37.770
to have an experience, to be able to see,

24:37.847 --> 24:41.205
smell, touch, taste it, just to be able

24:41.252 --> 24:44.670
to ignite the senses in some way, shape or form,

24:44.747 --> 24:48.135
which sort of leads me back to that limbic system. And one of the

24:48.167 --> 24:51.170
things that we can do is aromatherapy.

24:51.260 --> 24:54.590
And aromatherapy goes back to science, right? Science. There's lots

24:54.620 --> 24:57.545
of clinical trials, over 200 clinical trials.

24:57.635 --> 25:01.085
There's different chemical constituents that help to ignite

25:01.130 --> 25:04.455
that limbic system. And so doing things,

25:04.577 --> 25:08.787
we know that if a smell is associated with

25:09.450 --> 25:13.185
an event, we have a 75% more chance of

25:13.217 --> 25:16.415
remembering it. So being able to touch different senses

25:16.445 --> 25:19.515
are going to be very beneficial. So lots of

25:19.532 --> 25:23.460
different learning styles can be touched on in all different parts of

25:23.642 --> 25:27.315
a class or a course or a workshop. And so it's very important to be

25:27.332 --> 25:30.455
engaged in that way. And then, of course, simply wrote,

25:30.590 --> 25:34.035
being able to write something down, take notes, being able to look

25:34.067 --> 25:36.825
back at it and then actually doing it,

25:36.887 --> 25:40.215
performing it, allowing the students to or

25:40.307 --> 25:43.995
people in the workshop to go ahead and actually use

25:44.072 --> 25:47.595
that technique right then and there. And we try to bring

25:47.672 --> 25:51.065
all of those styles of learning into our workshops and our courses

25:51.095 --> 25:54.615
and such so that we can engage everybody. And at the

25:54.632 --> 25:58.055
end of the day, once you've touched on all of those senses,

25:58.190 --> 26:01.710
you walk out of there kind of more. Oh yeah,

26:01.742 --> 26:05.340
I remember that. Or I remember the way that made me feel or the way

26:05.357 --> 26:08.970
that it kind of played out. And that is very important.

26:09.047 --> 26:12.780
And of course it's empowering because I think one of the things that is really

26:12.827 --> 26:16.300
difficult as a caregiver whether it be a family caregiver,

26:16.650 --> 26:20.060
health professional, healthcare professional, is you're

26:20.105 --> 26:23.235
feeling very similar to those with

26:23.267 --> 26:27.375
dementia, right? Those frustrations, that anxiety, all of those things,

26:27.437 --> 26:30.815
because they know when sundowning is going to occur.

26:30.920 --> 26:33.945
They know that this might tip off. As you were saying before,

26:34.022 --> 26:37.490
you had this unique experience with a larger,

26:37.670 --> 26:41.085
more powerful person. And it was

26:41.117 --> 26:45.485
almost like, what do I do? Where are my tools? And so engaging

26:45.530 --> 26:49.035
them with tools and being able to empower the caregiver is

26:49.067 --> 26:52.575
extremely important. And then when they do have that empowering both,

26:52.637 --> 26:55.525
they can help themselves as well as their patients.

26:56.625 --> 27:00.475
That's very fascinating. I mean, I do have to add an interesting anecdote.

27:00.975 --> 27:04.940
I don't know if either of you have heard of the Wolf from Wall Street,

27:05.045 --> 27:06.250
Jordan Belfort.

27:08.025 --> 27:11.310
He has it in his training book for

27:11.342 --> 27:14.375
sales. One of the things he has, I think Jessica specifically

27:14.450 --> 27:17.985
appreciate this, is that he wants

27:18.017 --> 27:21.785
you to be able to always be on your peak performance.

27:21.980 --> 27:25.305
Really? Whenever you're trying to convince anybody to do anything. It's not just

27:25.352 --> 27:28.590
the sales of a product or service, but whatever you want to do.

27:28.607 --> 27:31.185
If you want to convince your parents to give you more ice cream, you also

27:31.217 --> 27:34.965
need to do that. We don't naturally stay in that state all the

27:34.982 --> 27:39.060
time. So his practical tip that he does and teaches his students is

27:39.092 --> 27:42.840
that you naturally attain that state of

27:42.857 --> 27:46.440
mind during certain times in the sales conversation. It could be

27:46.457 --> 27:50.487
you just closed a massive deal. You're feeling on top of the world.

27:51.450 --> 27:55.325
His suggestion is to take I feel what it is, but some very powerful

27:55.400 --> 27:58.800
smell and inhale it and

27:58.862 --> 28:02.115
really absorb and mesh the experience with

28:02.132 --> 28:05.865
that sense of smell and train your body to

28:05.882 --> 28:08.540
do it over and over again. And the more times you do it, the stronger

28:08.570 --> 28:11.775
that connection is and to be intentional about it. Like, a lot of people remember

28:11.837 --> 28:15.087
the smell of cookies when they were a kid or fresh linen or whatever,

28:15.525 --> 28:19.200
but those things happened. But he was saying you use it and program

28:19.262 --> 28:23.115
your brain that way so that now, next time when you want

28:23.132 --> 28:26.460
to get into that frame of mind, you smell it. Just like you

28:26.642 --> 28:30.935
nostalgically remember back to your childhood. You can adjust

28:30.980 --> 28:34.140
yourself and get into that frame of mind so that whatever it is you need

28:34.157 --> 28:37.287
to accomplish, you're at your peak at your peak time.

28:37.725 --> 28:41.075
I wonder if this can be done intentionally

28:41.150 --> 28:44.535
with thinking out loud now with dementia residents who

28:44.567 --> 28:48.087
are also, you know, there's some downing at a certain time,

28:48.450 --> 28:51.695
but if they can be intentionally created,

28:51.860 --> 28:55.760
I know this is done already. I have no idea. But perhaps intentionally,

28:55.955 --> 29:00.525
when they're in their moments of being

29:00.587 --> 29:04.050
stable, happy, content and feel

29:04.112 --> 29:07.415
present and using that and kind of like anchoring

29:07.445 --> 29:10.287
in those emotions, is this something that you do already?

29:10.800 --> 29:13.725
Yes. So that is actually the dementia connection model.

29:13.862 --> 29:17.310
That you're describing that came out last

29:17.342 --> 29:19.587
year and yeah,

29:22.050 --> 29:25.740
I know some serendipity. Yes. That's the

29:25.757 --> 29:29.385
basis of the Dementia Connection model. It's being able to provide sensory based techniques to

29:29.417 --> 29:33.380
tap into that limbic system that help to actually influence positive

29:33.440 --> 29:37.070
emotions and positive memories. And so Jessica

29:37.085 --> 29:40.730
and I teach upon it in our seminars and our certifications.

29:40.865 --> 29:44.295
And for us, it's kind of the helm of

29:44.372 --> 29:48.210
what we're trying to get out there in terms of non pharmacy approaches. But we

29:48.242 --> 29:52.455
use those same techniques, which is funny when we're educating students to

29:52.577 --> 29:56.090
staff, the students can be staff, it could be family caregivers.

29:56.120 --> 30:00.285
Right. We use those same techniques because it actually works at actually

30:00.317 --> 30:04.887
a human level. It's more powerful for people with dementia because

30:05.325 --> 30:08.760
the way that they're experiencing the world now is very similar to how

30:08.792 --> 30:12.390
young adolescents experience the world, where they're actually using their

30:12.407 --> 30:15.615
senses to learn everything in the first five years of life. So people

30:15.632 --> 30:19.785
would mention, go through that same experience where with you and I, we can

30:19.817 --> 30:23.450
gauge whether we want to be influenced. Right. Initially we're influenced,

30:23.525 --> 30:26.595
but then we can say to ourselves, maybe we don't want to feel that way.

30:26.597 --> 30:29.490
And you can make a decision to not feel that way. Right. Where people with

30:29.507 --> 30:33.365
dementia, their decisionmaking capabilities, unfortunately, are decreasing,

30:33.395 --> 30:36.840
so they can't do that. But that helps us because we obviously want all

30:36.857 --> 30:40.860
interactions to be positive as best as possible. So your

30:40.892 --> 30:44.765
point that that's really the Venture Connection model and what we actually preach

30:44.795 --> 30:48.360
at the institute here, that is

30:48.392 --> 30:53.340
actually fascinating. More about that in

30:53.357 --> 30:54.100
a minute.

30:56.250 --> 30:59.160
Another point we want to touch on, and I see the times running away from

30:59.192 --> 31:03.390
us. How has COVID affected the

31:03.407 --> 31:06.990
way facilities are implementing dimension training? And more than

31:07.007 --> 31:10.362
that, is there anything in the actual training that

31:10.875 --> 31:14.505
should be evolving or that has evolved from

31:14.552 --> 31:18.100
everything that we've learned, especially in nursing homes going through COVID?

31:18.900 --> 31:22.680
Right. I think that it definitely has changed. I think obviously

31:22.802 --> 31:26.085
a lot of training, not just dementia training, I think a lot of training was

31:26.117 --> 31:29.565
put on the back burner because nursing homes were trying to figure out how to

31:29.582 --> 31:33.060
stay in control of their infection control procedures. Right.

31:33.167 --> 31:36.990
That was what most of public health is focusing on. What'd you say

31:37.157 --> 31:41.040
that how to not die. Yes, exactly. So there

31:41.057 --> 31:43.940
was that focus of just crisis mode.

31:43.970 --> 31:46.805
Right. So, understandably, a lot of stuff was put on the back burner.

31:46.865 --> 31:50.115
But as nursing homes are coming up for

31:50.132 --> 31:53.640
air now and things are settling down a little bit, I know sometimes they're going

31:53.657 --> 31:57.260
in waves as well. Still, they're trying to figure out what does post pandemic

31:57.305 --> 32:00.845
look like for clinical services, for activities,

32:00.935 --> 32:04.140
for training, for all of these things. How do we do it now again?

32:04.232 --> 32:07.725
And how do we do it? Well, I think the biggest thing is

32:07.862 --> 32:11.045
making sure that these trainings are flexible in nature.

32:11.135 --> 32:14.250
That it doesn't have to be one specific way

32:14.312 --> 32:17.925
like meaning it doesn't have to be one seminar or only

32:17.987 --> 32:21.545
online, it has to meet the different needs of your employees

32:21.635 --> 32:24.605
because you have some employees who are full time, part time PRN,

32:24.665 --> 32:27.725
right? And because of that you have to be able to adjust.

32:27.875 --> 32:31.185
So it's giving options to the employees and allowing them to feel

32:31.217 --> 32:35.495
in control of how they are getting their training, making sure that you're in compliance

32:35.585 --> 32:38.985
so you have the minimum standard of what you're going to provide. But then say,

32:39.017 --> 32:41.850
here are your two or three options to be able to get that training,

32:41.987 --> 32:46.115
and then the employee can choose right. So it gives them more investment

32:46.145 --> 32:49.860
in it because they're actually able to choose that. So the organization invest in

32:49.892 --> 32:53.585
online classroom great. They invest in some certification programs.

32:53.630 --> 32:57.285
Fantastic, right? You might have your go to trainer that comes in once every

32:57.317 --> 33:00.500
so often to provide that live training or maybe now virtual,

33:00.575 --> 33:04.470
right? Virtual trainings are a big thing now. So having that flexibility I

33:04.472 --> 33:08.145
think is really important for organizations to pay attention to so a

33:08.222 --> 33:11.760
more they can stay in compliance but be more importantly that the

33:11.792 --> 33:15.705
staff are getting the education that they need and deserve and that they want but

33:15.752 --> 33:19.305
it's really on their terms and so I think that's a key here with that.

33:19.427 --> 33:22.740
I think part of it too is making sure that the venture education is up

33:22.757 --> 33:26.330
to date because we now know that unfortunately COVID-19

33:26.390 --> 33:29.135
is a precursor of risk for developing dementia.

33:29.255 --> 33:32.745
That should be in our stuff, right? That should be in our content, we should

33:32.747 --> 33:36.860
be talking about that. So just making sure it's relevant as well. So flexibility

33:36.980 --> 33:42.120
relevancy needs to be there post pandemic interesting.

33:42.272 --> 33:45.510
Maybe one question before we wrap up here. And I'm trying to

33:45.542 --> 33:49.065
think. You're both very passionate about what you

33:49.082 --> 33:52.610
do, and you're focused directly on making the biggest

33:52.655 --> 33:56.040
impact that you can so that this disease is handled in

33:56.057 --> 33:59.985
the best way possible and more than that, and that the seniors are not

34:00.017 --> 34:03.500
seen or the people who have this challenge,

34:03.575 --> 34:07.545
they're not seen for the disease, not defined by their disease. And there are people

34:07.697 --> 34:11.670
who can be cared for and loved and have a quality

34:11.747 --> 34:15.465
of life and not

34:15.482 --> 34:17.937
just be looked at as a patient. Question.

34:18.750 --> 34:22.440
Maybe either one of you. I will give Jessica a turn if you

34:22.457 --> 34:26.525
want, but the question is I'm trying to think from an operator

34:26.600 --> 34:30.615
standpoint, even at a higher level, you want to zoom out. So in other

34:30.632 --> 34:34.190
words, sometimes a CNA can be very passionate about Betty

34:34.220 --> 34:37.710
in room 302 2nd bed because they have a relationship

34:37.817 --> 34:41.340
there and they understand and they see the direct results of certain things that

34:41.357 --> 34:44.650
they do on the resident,

34:45.675 --> 34:48.915
but on a corporate level, on an

34:48.932 --> 34:51.762
ownership level or even operations level.

34:53.550 --> 34:57.360
So for them many times, okay, the mentor train we have to do it,

34:57.467 --> 35:01.790
they're still going to say, we have to check the box. What other measurables

35:01.820 --> 35:05.505
that they care about does this affect to get them on board,

35:05.552 --> 35:07.300
to take this more seriously?

35:08.925 --> 35:12.240
Well, I mean, I guess it goes back to what

35:12.257 --> 35:15.690
we were saying before as far as on a personal

35:15.782 --> 35:19.095
level or their own, what they're going

35:19.097 --> 35:22.785
to look like, why did they go into this, what was

35:22.817 --> 35:26.085
the purpose for their choices in life?

35:26.192 --> 35:29.745
Why are you a CNA here? And I

35:29.747 --> 35:32.930
might not be able to answer you from a measurable standpoint.

35:32.990 --> 35:36.530
I think Jennifer might be better from that perspective.

35:36.665 --> 35:40.020
But from what I see and what I understand, I think a

35:40.022 --> 35:43.260
lot of things happen because lack of education, right? And so,

35:43.367 --> 35:47.060
yes, of course, it's easy to fall in love with Estelle,

35:47.105 --> 35:50.270
who is 92, and she comes in and she's

35:50.285 --> 35:53.760
so excited to see you and then you get a cup thrown at

35:53.792 --> 35:57.705
you by Roman, right. And you're like, god, I don't want to deal with him

35:57.752 --> 36:01.170
today. And how do

36:01.172 --> 36:05.730
you make him as important as her that

36:05.777 --> 36:09.860
might be a little bit better suited to Jennifer as far as question wise.

36:10.055 --> 36:13.695
I don't know. That's a very good point as well. I just want to

36:13.697 --> 36:17.295
focus on that for a second because there

36:17.372 --> 36:21.110
is a certain tendency, there are certain easy, fun residents

36:21.230 --> 36:24.915
and the impact that

36:24.932 --> 36:28.790
their disease might have on them is not just their inability

36:28.895 --> 36:32.235
to go through like that exercise described before,

36:32.267 --> 36:35.360
the shopping experience or the activities,

36:35.480 --> 36:38.955
daily living. It actually is going to affect how others

36:39.002 --> 36:42.920
relate to them. Meaning that of course we're going to do the basic

36:43.010 --> 36:46.825
care, but at the end of the day, if you have a minute of downtime

36:48.675 --> 36:53.225
or you have a certain amount of happiness

36:53.300 --> 36:56.970
of cheer that you're bringing into the building with you, it's going to

36:56.972 --> 37:00.470
go to Roman or Estelle. And unfortunately, many times it's

37:00.485 --> 37:03.045
going to go to Estelle because it's so much easier. And Estelle always has a

37:03.047 --> 37:06.255
good story, might have a treat for you or whatever it is.

37:06.377 --> 37:09.965
And when Z, your boss, comes by, estelle is going to be very vocal

37:09.995 --> 37:13.365
about saying how amazing you are and Romans just going to punch you

37:13.382 --> 37:15.087
in the face, right,

37:18.150 --> 37:21.540
which is really true. But getting back to the

37:21.557 --> 37:25.137
other point, as far as convincing somebody,

37:25.500 --> 37:28.955
even, let's say, a higher level of director of clinical operations,

37:29.015 --> 37:32.640
let's say we're not going to talk about the operators right now because

37:32.657 --> 37:36.175
those are just the money hungry people. That's how sometimes they're perceived.

37:36.600 --> 37:40.725
And we can talk about that too. But even first, like someone is managing 50

37:40.787 --> 37:44.420
nursing homes, their job is to the clinic operations.

37:44.585 --> 37:47.640
Why is this important to them? Yeah,

37:47.732 --> 37:50.295
so I'm going to just expand upon what Jessica thinks. I think she had a

37:50.297 --> 37:54.087
good point where when you have these interactions with

37:55.125 --> 37:58.590
staff, with residents, right, a lot of times it comes down

37:58.607 --> 38:02.285
to when you have lack of education, right. And staff

38:02.330 --> 38:06.815
don't know how to interact appropriately. Yes. It's easier to go to Estelle,

38:06.845 --> 38:10.190
who gives you all the gratification that you're

38:10.220 --> 38:13.745
looking for, and you don't know how to deal with Roman because you're

38:13.760 --> 38:17.040
not educated. Right. And so what happens with that staff and why this is

38:17.057 --> 38:20.765
important to an operator director of operations

38:20.870 --> 38:23.900
is that that staff member may decide,

38:23.975 --> 38:27.570
this is not for me, and quit. And we know staff retention is

38:27.647 --> 38:31.515
unbelievable right now. Right. It's just a mess. And so when

38:31.532 --> 38:34.860
you have people who are not educated, they don't feel confident in what they're doing

38:34.892 --> 38:39.020
and they don't feel competent because they're not given the education or there's

38:39.035 --> 38:42.290
not time to be able to have that education, they quit,

38:42.320 --> 38:45.645
they move out, they decide, I'm going to do something else. They either go on

38:45.647 --> 38:48.570
to another nursing home and they think, well, the grass might be greener on the

38:48.572 --> 38:52.055
other side, or the other professional altogether. I know CNA

38:52.115 --> 38:55.590
certifications right now, on an annual basis, when they are renewed, are at

38:55.607 --> 38:59.235
an all time low, which is unbelievable, right. So their

38:59.267 --> 39:03.165
staff retention and I know a Director of Operations is really key on

39:03.182 --> 39:07.115
that, is make sure we retain our staff, give them the tools to be successful.

39:07.220 --> 39:10.230
But I think above and beyond that, our clinical outcomes, right.

39:10.352 --> 39:13.580
When we train our staff to really be educated

39:13.640 --> 39:17.420
in this and they understand the disease and they know how to properly intervene

39:17.510 --> 39:21.905
and the residents are doing well and they're happy and they're safe and they're secure,

39:22.040 --> 39:25.365
what are you going to see? You're going to see less falls, you're going to

39:25.382 --> 39:28.220
see more meal consumption, which means less weight loss,

39:28.310 --> 39:31.725
right. You're going to see less like a tropic use.

39:31.787 --> 39:35.055
Right. So that PRN use where we want to make sure that's really,

39:35.102 --> 39:38.190
really low because we know public health breathing down our neck to make

39:38.207 --> 39:42.485
sure we don't have an overuse of prns. Right. When you're using nonpharmacological

39:42.530 --> 39:46.245
approaches, you're speaking public health language and you're giving your staff the

39:46.247 --> 39:49.940
tools to do that through the education. Right. So you're reducing those prns,

39:49.970 --> 39:53.495
which you're hopefully able to then help your do n, because then your dom's

39:53.510 --> 39:57.470
are happy because they don't deal with all these clinical nightmares, falls and prns

39:57.485 --> 40:00.780
and that kind of stuff, right. Because then that trickles down to

40:00.902 --> 40:03.965
skin, right. When you're falling, right. Or when you're

40:03.995 --> 40:07.940
overusing prns and you're very confused,

40:08.045 --> 40:11.910
which can contribute to falls, then you have skin tears and bruising and

40:11.942 --> 40:15.885
fractures and all this. And I'm using all that terminology because that's just

40:15.992 --> 40:18.912
ringing the ears right now of operators right now.

40:19.575 --> 40:22.290
The idea here, the big picture is, and I know I'm really passionate about this

40:22.307 --> 40:25.785
because appendix the senior living space for so long, but the big picture is here

40:25.817 --> 40:30.025
is if you have really good education with your staff and you do it consistently,

40:30.375 --> 40:34.175
that you may retain more staff. And when you retain more staff,

40:34.325 --> 40:37.685
they're able to actually implement what they're being taught. And when they implement

40:37.730 --> 40:41.610
what they're being taught, it impacts the residents and their families. And what

40:41.642 --> 40:45.290
happens now, it affects of course, the feel goodness of their interaction,

40:45.395 --> 40:48.995
but it impacts your clinical outcomes and your quality outcomes,

40:49.085 --> 40:52.980
which of course inadvertently reverts to more referrals because

40:53.027 --> 40:56.285
the word gets out there of how wonderful your nursing home is. You can increase

40:56.330 --> 40:59.685
your census, you increase your revenue, you can put that back into

40:59.717 --> 41:03.285
the nursing home setting and really improve that education system and of course

41:03.317 --> 41:05.725
the other clinical processes that need to be improved.

41:06.900 --> 41:10.155
Amazing. Yeah. The only thing I would add to that and

41:10.202 --> 41:13.365
maybe head to your sales kid, if it's not already there,

41:13.532 --> 41:17.105
is you're also preventing hospital readmissions,

41:17.165 --> 41:20.445
right? Because that guy who's out of control is going

41:20.447 --> 41:23.985
to be section twelve out of the hospital. He won't have

41:24.017 --> 41:26.565
to be, and he'll be able to stay.

41:26.732 --> 41:29.865
And you may not get them back also, but that always happens. Why was this

41:29.882 --> 41:33.465
person sent out? The facility was not equipped to deal with them. Are they

41:33.482 --> 41:37.035
equipped to deal with them now? Let's try to send them somewhere else. That person

41:37.067 --> 41:40.415
was a Medicare patient and now you just lost 100 days of Medicare

41:40.445 --> 41:44.625
that nobody's happy with that. And what does that tell you? Like you said before,

41:44.762 --> 41:48.555
as far as referrals are concerned, was that due to the facility can't even

41:48.602 --> 41:52.095
keep this 92 year old man who to them is going to look like a

41:52.097 --> 41:56.500
harmless person because they are able to restrain them in the hospital.

41:57.075 --> 42:00.885
They're not going to have the same challenges. And many times this happens all

42:00.917 --> 42:04.580
the time. You both know this is said that there are all sorts of medications

42:04.640 --> 42:08.540
that stop when they come into the nursing home. And now they start surprised,

42:08.570 --> 42:11.460
they start acting out, they go back by us.

42:11.492 --> 42:15.012
It was fine. Like, yeah, you had otherwise it's done with them.

42:15.525 --> 42:18.660
I'm just noticing the time frame. We went way past what we

42:18.692 --> 42:21.995
were going to do. Maybe before we sign off, if you don't

42:22.010 --> 42:26.037
mind sharing with us, if someone wants to learn more about

42:26.475 --> 42:30.162
your business, where should they go and why should they go there?

42:30.525 --> 42:35.465
Absolutely. So you can find us@dementiaconnectioninstitute.org

42:35.495 --> 42:39.762
Nova Dementiaconnectioninstitute.org and

42:40.500 --> 42:44.550
we open up in January. So we're really excited about that. We provide live

42:44.612 --> 42:48.060
in person and virtual trainings. We're nationwide. We also

42:48.092 --> 42:51.335
do Ce presentations and we do community presentations.

42:51.530 --> 42:55.715
And we actually just were approved for our new certification programs

42:55.895 --> 42:59.510
which is the Dementia Connection Specialist which is open to all healthcare

42:59.555 --> 43:03.290
professionals and family caregivers. And the Dementia

43:03.320 --> 43:06.420
Connection Specialist certified trainer for professionals if

43:06.422 --> 43:09.960
they want to learn how to train others to become DCS's. Which is a great

43:09.992 --> 43:13.455
way to complement revenue for yourself as well.

43:13.502 --> 43:16.865
So we have just been approved for that. So we actually have three dates

43:16.895 --> 43:19.560
on the books. If they go to our website, they can check out what those

43:19.592 --> 43:23.310
dates are, learning all about our certification programs. And then later

43:23.342 --> 43:26.235
on this summer, we're going to be launching our online classrooms when we talk about

43:26.267 --> 43:30.030
flexibility for your staff. We're a onestop shop for that, so we're really happy

43:30.077 --> 43:33.110
to bring that out the online classroom here this summer,

43:33.230 --> 43:37.095
and then we have more for you later in 2022. So check out our website

43:37.172 --> 43:39.625
at Dementia Connection Institute.org.

43:39.975 --> 43:43.565
Amazing. Thank you both for coming on the nursing

43:43.595 --> 43:47.615
Home podcast. It's been a pleasure hearing

43:47.720 --> 43:51.485
some of the things that you both shared on this episode and about the businesses

43:51.530 --> 43:55.190
that you're involved in to listen to other episodes,

43:55.220 --> 44:00.375
past episodes on the podcast, you head on over to the nursing homepodcast.com

44:00.512 --> 44:04.485
or wherever podcasts are served. So thank you both again for

44:04.517 --> 44:09.065
joining. We really appreciate having quality guests

44:09.170 --> 44:11.937
sharing what you did on the show.

44:20.550 --> 44:24.090
Now that you've enjoyed this episode of the nursing home

44:24.182 --> 44:28.100
podcast, I'd really appreciate if you'd rate this podcast

44:28.250 --> 44:31.805
and let everyone else know what an amazing resource

44:31.865 --> 44:35.010
this is for those wanting to learn anything and everything about

44:35.042 --> 44:40.365
the nursing home industry. So head on over to ratethispodcast.com

44:40.532 --> 44:42.015
nursinghome. Again,

44:42.182 --> 44:45.945
ratethispodcast.com nursinghome, leave me a

44:45.947 --> 44:49.415
review and let the world know what an amazing show this truly

44:49.445 --> 44:52.910
is. Thank you so much for listening and make sure to stay tuned

44:52.955 --> 44:56.075
and subscribe so you don't miss any other episodes.