Salvation Army Aged Care Plus is rolling out a new program that has seen a huge drop in behaviours of residents with dementia, such as verbal and physical aggression, agitation, wandering, isolation and confusion among the participants. Staff have also recorded a big decrease in the number of falls and residents requiring psychotropic medication.
Based on the internationally awarded ‘Butterfly Household Care’ model created by the UK’s Dementia Care Matters, the Salvos are piloting it at two of its aged care homes in the ACT and Queensland.
Called Making Moments Matter (formerly Dementia Care Matters), the program is designed to give residents a sense of purpose – and it’s producing real results.
How does it work?
Keeping residents connected
Living areas have been painted in bright colours to make it easier for residents with sight problems to navigate their way around.
Residents can also now take part in domestic duties such as cleaning and gardening if they want, and staff share meals with residents.
Care workers have also undertaken intensive training to help them better connect with residents including travelling to the UK to learn directly from Dementia Care Matters.
Aged Care Plus’ Executive Manager of Care Services, Peter Bewert says the early results prove that caring for people with dementia isn’t just about their physical needs.
“People with dementia often don’t have the cognitive capacity to process the meaning of the emotions they feel, but that is what our staff are here to help with, acknowledging that emotion is not defined by a diagnosis,” he says.
Aged Care Plus now plans to roll out the program to their other homes.
