Tricia Medeiros is the Regional Director of The Plaza Assisted Living, and oversees the operations of all The Plaza Assisted Living communities, including The Plaza at Punchbowl and The Plaza at Mililani. She has an extensive background in working with dementia, has served on the Alzheimer’s Association Board of Directors for four years, and was named Chairman of the Board in 2009. Here, she talks about the special Memory Care Program designed for people with dementia to cope better, feel happier and experience less anxiety.
The Plaza’s Memory Care program is designed for residents with Alzheimer’s Disease and other related types of dementia. The environment and social programming we offer at our assisted living program in Hawaii, as well as specialized dementia care, is designed to meet their unique needs. The staff receives specialized training and knows how to meet those special needs in a secured environment. The Plazas also offer support groups to the families of our residents with dementia.
Our goal is to build a routine for the residents that gives them comfort and reduces anxiety. Sometimes the initial transition can be confusing, but over the course of six to eight weeks, our residents build a routine and become familiar with the process.
Behavior Management
In particular, we use redirection for behavior management. We like to jump into their fantasies. If we have a memory care resident who insists that he is still living in his house on the Big Island, or that I am his long-lost daughter, then instead of correcting that fact and creating anxiety, we go with the fantasy. Because really, what is the harm? They are suffering from a disease; they are confused.
We live with those fantasies every day. Sometimes a patient will stick to the same fantasy, sometimes not. Oftentimes in their confusion, patients think of themselves as being much younger. If a patient’s husband comes to visit, he might look like a much older gentleman than what her mind’s eye is telling her, and sometimes the relationship gets skewed.
This becomes confusing to patients but instead of correcting them, we just go with it. We believe that it is the right thing to do, and general practice is that it’s the right thing to do. Our patients do not sense their impairment; they do not realize that they are confused. And trying to explain their diagnosis to them anew every day is not something that is good for people.
Memory Care Program
Our Memory Care program also has a host of different social activities. We offer exercise and walking clubs, we go out on excursions, and we do reminiscent-type activities such as talking about the Big Bands of their era. In that way, our assisted living program in Hawaii, combined with licensed dementia care, meets the physical and personal needs of our residents.
Most of these residents have long-term memory that is still intact; it is their short-term memory that is affected. We may not be able to talk about what they had for breakfast every day with them, but they can still easily recall information from their childhood. The most important thing is that because they have shorter attention spans, we do more activities in shorter time periods, tailoring everything to each patient’s individual needs and desires to make him or her as comfortable as possible.
