Using Regulations and Proven Simple Practices to reject Institution for Normal Life

The Artifacts of Culture Change 2.0 and Artifacts – Assisted Living are each an inspirational, educational, benchmarking self-assessment tool.  Use the tool to implement practice changes that shift the focus from institutional to individual, facility to home and focus on person-directed living rather than medical care. A 12-month curriculum with committed homes makes the most difference. Teams have seen improved sleep, weight loss disappear, skin improve, falls decrease and fewer supplements, decreased stress, retention improve, no need for bonuses and no job openings!

Using Regulations and Proactive Practices to Prevent Falls – by All

Replace the same old, institutional “interventions” with individualized approaches and proactive practices to reduce falls. Even CMS regulations refer to proactive practices which cost no money and can lead to reduced falls and injuries to those we serve.  Learn how to create a proactive fall reduction culture by all as “Falls do not belong to nursing.” Learn how everyone has the power to prevent falls and together get closer to ZERO falls. A 12 month curriculum with committed homes makes the most difference in using regulations and simple practices to change institutional culture. Teams have seen falls reduce by half and a few got to ZERO!

The Validation Method®: Required Trauma-informed Care that Diminishes Stress

Know what to do without lying or only redirecting older disoriented people seeking to finally address old trauma. Learn how the Validation Method® is a means for successfully communicating with persons with dementia, something desperately needed by them, their caregivers and family members.  Validation replaces the outmoded and person-devaluing methods of redirection, diversion, reality orientation, and the therapeutic lie.  Validation teaches how to exquisitely listen, empathize, move into the disoriented person’s world and validate feelings.  Using Validation boosts self-esteem, builds trust and rapport and often assists the person to no longer need to resort to the past by creating a warm and welcoming present. Validation is trauma-informed care, helping caregivers to know what to do and what not to do to help older people with what psychologists call old trauma. Data from nursing homes which participated in community-wide Validation education and implementation shows decreased episodes of distress, abuse reports and abuse allegations. A 12-month curriculum with committed homes makes the most difference so all team members know how to diminish stress. Teams have seen documented episodes of stress for people served diminish!

Using Regulations and the Power of Language to reject Institution for Normal Life
Aging is a group we all belong to although we are often unwilling to admit it. All the more reason to join the culture change movement and conscientiously use dignified language. Join Culture Change Coach Carmen Bowman as she shares from the paper she co-authored, The Power of Language to Create Culture. Recognize pejorative, paternalistic, institutional, labeling language and shift to a focus on living normal life instead of receiving clinical care. Do you put yourself down with your own ageist language referring to yourself negatively as you get older or to your “senior moments”? Does anyone ever want to live in a “facility” or be “put” into one? And if you are “admitted” to one might you be “non-compliant,” have “behaviors,” be “difficult” and “elope” or even “escape”? Discover your SUPERPOWER in using words that uplift and honor all of us at all ages. Creating a game for the length of a workshop or conference impacts deeply.

Using Regulations and Open Dining to Promote Restorative Sleep/Natural Awakening

How can it be that people living in nursing/assisted living homes are some of the most sleep deprived people? They have no job to rush off to, they are retired, so why? The body deciding when to wake is true choice. Choice is all over the new CMS regulations including over waking and sleeping. The benefits of being well rested are many; lack of sleep leads to health maladies that could have been prevented. The time is now to stop waking residents, find out what helps them have a good night’s sleep, wake during the night only on an individualized basis and offer breakfast at different times to accommodate resident natural awakening. Open dining becomes part of the answer and is much easier to do than many think.

Regulations include Connectedness: Become Connectedness Coordinators
How would you plan your day if you were a Connectedness Coordinator? What if we each took on that role, no matter our role? Be proactive. Intentionally connect residents with “their people,” and often. Create a plan for social connectedness for each person you serve. Then learn ideas to go further. Consider creating an expectancy of engagement, oath against boredom, everyone get to know each other better, discover what each person is famous for, and collect elders’ advice to create a wisdom book. Now is the time to focus on meaning and purpose to boost immunity. Take advantage of this unique time to be better together having grace on each other. Did you know connectedness is now included in CMS requirements which also raise the level of quality of life requirements? Don’t let life get lost; it can’t be clinical care only.

Meaningfully Engaging Individuals’ Interests is what’s Required: Engage people in their rooms – including those with short attention spans
Join us for oodles of ideas to meaningfully engage individuals with their surroundings especially those living with dementia. Institutionalized, isolated people need the gift of our intentionality to engage naturally with their surroundings, even when there is not a pandemic. We can all help to overcome boredom one of the plagues of institutionalization identified by Eden Alternative®.

Tending to Psychosocial Wellbeing – a good idea and required by Regulations
The after effect of our toughest world-wide challenge ever might be the need to tend to psychosocial wellbeing for team members and residents alike. Did you know tending to wellbeing has been needed, and required, all along? Highest practicable level of physical, mental and psychosocial wellbeing is required by many CMS regulations yet rarely care planned or tended to. Pave the way for better regulatory compliance by leaning into this good CMS requirement to reach highest practicable, not practical, level of psychosocial wellbeing. Team member wellness = resident wellness. 

Go Beyond CMS Requirements; Honor Choice even Better than minimal requirements
Learn CMS requirements for choice. Residents want choice in sleeping, dining, getting outside and contributing to the community. Some residents are even involved in hiring staff and making decisions regarding the budget! Go beyond care – support residents to live life on their terms. Institutional living is often known for lack of choice.  If you have an “ordered” restricted diet and told “you can’t eat that” for years perhaps, what kind of harm does that cause? Use this time to set your community apart by offering residents a life full of choices.

Using Regulations to Dispel the Pressure to hold so many Group Activities
Most residents end up spending most time in their room, with or without a pandemic. We have needed to hone helping people live life outside of groups all along. Groups can never be 24/7 or meet everyone’s needs anyway. Give residents lots of ideas of things to do going beyond the norm and beyond television. What a great moment in time to get creative. Go deeper with people, learn how to have every team member honor, and validate a persons’ life role. Encourage people with time on their hands to try something new, do things they have not done in a while, refocus their capabilities, live out passions indirectly and not lose their taste for life. Work with people to tell their life story, share wisdom, leave a legacy, develop the invention, book or song in their heart, armchair travel, plan the garden, sing, study, sort photos, serve others, and more. (This session naturally combines with the other sessions Regulations include Connectedness: Become Connectedness Coordinators and Meaningfully Engage Individuals in their rooms – especially people with dementia.)

Regulations require Individualized, not institutional, Care Plans
Still developing traditional, institutional, disciplinary care plans? If team members say, “I have to work on my care plans,” you are. Care plans belong to, and should reflect, the person.  Be freed from the outdated, medical, now deficient, model of care planning. Content comes from Changing the Culture of Care Planning: a person-directed approach co-authored by the speaker, a former surveyor, covering culture change practices from personalized to “I” care plans to narrative care plans.  Surveyors, do you survey, and providers, do you care plan according to CMS’ longstanding requirement to identify each resident’s highest practicable level of well-being? Supporting residents to set their own goals is a new CMS requirement but a tried-and-true culture change practice. Focus on the life the resident is living and growth one of the Eden Alternative℠ domains of wellbeing now included in the CMS requirements. 

Be Your Own Surveyor: Implement a Proactive QAPI Culture
The QAA/QAPI requirement is and has always been a gift from the government. Do you utilize it to its fullest potential? Do you utilize proven culture change practices to their fullest potential? Do you promote a proactive and preventative culture? Be inspired to “be your own surveyor.”

CMS Tag 679 Activities per Interests and Critical Element Pathway

We’ll breakdown both the regulatory text as well as the five pages of interpretive guidance at Tag 679. Become very familiar with the new survey tool, the Critical Element Pathway for Activities.  Be familiar with the 195 references to Activities in other requirements. Strong professionals know the regs, guidance and survey protocols pertinent to them, be one of them.

Person Centered Care Rises to the level of Regulation: New CMS Requirements

OR New CMS Requirements – Culture Change Links and Leverages

Knowing regulations is foundational; homes are held accountable to them. Learn the new requirements – what’s new and what remains, as well as many culture change wins.  Many culture change practices have now risen to the level of regulation. Culture change practices have always and continue to provide links, leverages and a leg up in meeting the regulatory requirements, position you to remain compliant and often cost little to nothing.  

Better Outcomes and Regulatory Compliance of Engaging Residents in Real Life OR Moving from institutional “Activity Programming” to Engaging in Real Life

See what can happen when all team members learn the value of meaningful engagement. moving from “activity programming” to meaningful engagement with real life.  Soon gone is the focus on groups. Many residents tell us they don’t want them, and many can’t function in them. Design the use of budgeted time differently. Engagement holds promise for reducing depression, anxiety, falls and more. If Bingo is the best we can do, that is not a compliment; be inspired to compete with Bingo. Residents want meaning and purpose, to give and contribute. From Baby Boomers to people living with dementia, it needs to be different.

State Operations Manual (SOM) Guidance to Surveyors for LTC – A Review

Do you know what the SOM is? Appendix P and PP? Chapter 7? Do you know the difference between regulation and interpretive guidance? Invest in your own knowledge increasing your comfort level and reducing your stress. Be inspired to “be your own surveyor” and promote a proactive, knowledge-based culture.

Validation Groups give a Role that Honors the Person

The Validation Method® developed by Naomi Feil found that Validation Groups can be very successful. Persons who sometimes have disorientation are given a role in a group that fits them, their personality, their life role. It is truly amazing to see that it works by honoring and validating the induvial. The matching roles improve self-esteem both individually and collectively. Discovering the persons’ life role first and then creating a matching role in the group gives meaning, purpose, people sit taller. The Validation Method has found the sweet sauce in how to guide a meaningful way to be together giving meaning and purpose to the individuals participating. Go beyond the typical group – go after honoring the person.

Shift Institutional to Individual-Directed Dining = Choices Honored, Regulatory Compliance and Saved Money

Rejuvenate, Regroup. Now is the time to do things differently. Food = love. Be more individualized and less institutional. Lean into the CMS regulations that require honoring choice. Know how culture change practices go beyond minimal compliance and, more importantly, honor the people who live where you work. Be better. Be ready for the Baby Boomers. Create a culture where people want to live and work starting with their tummies.

Know the CMS Survey Process

Learn the new CMS Survey Process. Strong professionals know the details of regulations, interpretive guidance, and the survey process enabling them to recognize myth and opinion from requirement. Together we will study the new Critical Element Pathways surveyors use during survey, hear some survey tips from a former surveyor and share yours.

Trauma-informed Care Regulatory Requirements

Trauma-informed care is now part of CMS requirements. Knowing how to assess for and care plan any trauma a person has encountered is both best practice and now required. You will feel stronger in your work if you know the requirements, know how to discover potential trauma in people’s lives, how to plan care in a highly individualized way, and be alert to not inadvertently retraumatize a person.

Set Your Community Apart: Fake Life or Real Life – which do you promote?

How much of what is offered to people living in long term care communities is fake?

Much is at stake with fake. Let’s call it out and consider why we think it’s okay. We’ll talk about examples: fake pets and babies, mock tails and near beer, the folding of fake towels. Let’s compare it to real and what each says about how we care for and treat older adults. Being honest, the bias is to encourage all to move in the direction of real life rather than fake promoting the culture change premise “rampant normalcy.”

Real Animals – How to make it work
Why did robotic, fake animals enter the scene? Will you want fake or real? Nursing homes and assisted livings have been home to real animals for decades. We have story after story of residents caring for their own or for the community pet, fostering dogs and cats, and taking care of birds in their rooms. We also have store after story of lives changed because of the real animals. The Eden Alternative® has always taught that animals serve as antidotes to loneliness, boredom and helplessness. We’ve all heard the research of the benefits of animals on blood pressure and depression. Don’t shy away from animals, even if you don’t like them, we have to get past that. We also know thatbecause our settings are larger and cleaned daily reducing dander, allergies dissipate as we get older, and animals tend to know who loves them. Learn the ways to make it work and truly impact and improve life for those you care for.

Using Regulations to reject Institutionalization and Ageism

Why did we think it okay to share a room with a stranger? Or worse, a toilet? Why a flimsy so-called privacy curtain? Why is waking other adults up okay and arbitrarily set mealtimes and menus? Bibs for adults? Noisy alarms, long hallways, big dining rooms, squeaky carts, overhead paging, medical uniforms. Institutional buildings with lots of worthless grass, bathing areas that scare people? Preferred parking for physicians, folding fake towels, fake animals and baby dolls, pejorative, paternalistic language, a focus on medical care instead of life, and residents resorting to smoking in order to be permitted to go outside. Explore reasons and simple remedies which cost no money and excite all involved in the change process.

Be intentional to get people Outdoors – the many simple ways and positive outcomes

Residents of a nursing home in Boston took up smoking. Why? So that “administration would take them outside.” May this not be. Be purposeful in helping people get outside. Are you talking about it? Care planning it? Get proactive. We are denying people the health benefits of sunshine, Vit. D and fresh air. Wouldn’t it be something if doctors and nurses brought it up as part of being healthy? Learn many doable ideas on how to woo and get people outside while setting your community apart.

Highest Practicable Level of Wellbeing: Required, yet neither care planned nor cited

CMS nursing home regulations require that the highest practicable level of well-being be maintained or attained for each person and have required this since 1987. As you have probably noticed, this language is in many of the CMS requirements. However, it is required specifically at Tag F656 Comprehensive Care Plans to be a part of services provided to reach each resident’s highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being. Notice “practicable,” not “practical.” Do you know the difference? Have you ever seen this care planned? Do you talk to residents about it? If you don’t, now is the time. Plus, it’s the best part of getting to serve older adults to be creative as a team to realize their “highest practicable.” (Best with Domains of Well-being session below.)

The Eden Alternative Domains of Well-Being^SM – now part of CMS Requirements

In 2005, The Eden Alternative brought together culture change thought leaders to discuss well-being. Out of that was born the seven domains of well-being: growth, comfort, security, identity, autonomy, connectedness, meaning and joy. Did you know that CMS included them in their new regulations? Are you learning how the residents you serve define these domains for themselves and are you including it in your care plan and services you provide? Now is the time, aren’t you glad and wouldn’t you appreciate it if you lived in a nursing home or other LTC setting? (Best with Highest Practicable Level of Well-being session above.)

The Value of Hosting a Kids Day Camp

Learn how a day camp can easily be made part of life in your community from lessons learned in three day camps the summer of 2017.  Outcomes to both youth and residents were so powerful, you may also wonder why doesn’t every nursing home and assisted living host a day camp in the summer?

Real Babies and Children: How to find them, welcome them, and make it work

The benefits to both elders and children of all ages to one another is well known. What we’ve learned is that it must be an all-hands-on deck approach though. The activity director alone doesn’t know enough babies. Learn how to reach out to find the babies, the most accessible children and how to maximize their being together. Babies and children give the gift of touch and respect to elders who need more opportunities to gift children with their love, encouragement and wisdom. Did you know that children in China go to be with older people “to become wise”?

Change Institutional Culture with Little Money and Worry about Regulations

Thirty years of the culture change movement has shown that an institutional culture can be changed with no money and in fact can save your community money. Many culture change principles and values can be incorporated into your culture without any worry of regulations. In fact, focusing on the persons in your care and those who care for them will enhance your compliance with regulatory requirements especially as the new CMS RoPs now include many culture change and person-centered care practices.

Not Honoring Choice can lead to Non-Compliance and Negative Outcomes

If you live with an “ordered” restricted diet and told “you can’t eat that” for, say, years, what kind of harm does that cause? The Hippocratic Oath is “do no harm,” but are we?  In her background paper for the Creating Home II food and dining symposium written under contract with CMS, C. Bowman fleshes out this concept of new negative outcome. Ponder it with us along with surplus safety developed by Drs. Ronch and Thomas, the right to folly, the reasonable person concept, the requirement to honor choices and research that shows how the opportunity to make choice contributes to brain health.  There are positive outcomes from being given choice as well as negative outcomes from not being given choice and rarely talked about.

Proactive Practices to Engage Family Members that Pay off in Every Way

Intentional Welcoming. Family Council. Daily community meetings. Intentional connectedness.

An expectation of involvement. No more “difficult family member” attitude. Learn them all.

Resident Choice is not a Choice anymore – CMS Requirements to Honor Choice

Since 1987 federal regulation has required nursing homes to honor resident choice.  CMS’s new requirements add to this requirement choice in sleeping and waking. Institutional living is often known for lack of choice.  Unfortunately, institutional ways can creep into even less institutional settings.  Be challenged to offer choice in every aspect of living whether you serve people in independent living, adult day services, assisted living, nursing homes or the rehab setting.  Most people are used to self-directed living, making choices all day long – it should be no different no matter where we live.

Building Relationships and Staff Retention – How They Go Together

“Relationship is the fundamental building block of a transformed culture” – a core value to changing institutional culture.  Only in relationship can one truly be known; what you love and what you hate, your passions to your pet peeves, in the end this is all any of us want. Research reveals relationships result in decreased turnover and other positive outcomes.

Move the Focus from Medical Care to Living Life

Dr. Bill Thomas of the Eden Alternative teaches there is too much focus on medical care and often no focus on the life a person is living. The care plan is about care. Even if there is a perfect care plan, life and living? Even the language bears this out from independent living, and assisted living to long term care. Did you know that in all of the CMS regulations, “resident life” is only mentioned once? We will look at compliance with that important requirement and all we can do to promote real life, purposeful life, make life the focus of the care and more.

Foundational Principles and Regulations to Reject Institutional Culture

“Oh, we do culture change.” But you see what you see, and it still looks like an institution.  It is easy to get a misperception of what “culture change” is.  A company gives focus to a new dining practice and without any other exposure staff think that’s what culture change is.  So, what does it truly mean to change an institutional culture? It has more to do with principles than programs, individualized care than institutional care, high involvement than top down hierarchy, and residents being well known than anything else.

Oodles of Ideas on Overcoming Resistance to Change

Change – some people love it, some don’t.  Most people know the many ideas to change institutional culture are good and want to implement them but run into resistance.  So how do you get everyone “on board?” Come hear idea after idea and add to the collection of them as we encourage one another on this journey that can include meaningful change.

Using the Dining Practice Standards and Regulations to Honor Food/Dining Preferences

Stemming from the 2010 Creating Home II National Symposium on Culture Change and the Food and Dining Requirements co-sponsored by CMS and the Pioneer Network was the creation of the Clinical Dining Standards Task Force which released the new Dining Practice Standards in 2011. The Standards were agreed upon by 12 clinical standard setting organizations and recognized by CMS. A second Task Force developed a Toolkit of model policies and procedures, brochures for families and residents and other tools to operationalize the Standards. Learn the Standards, the evidence-based research that backs them, how they were built upon CMS nursing home requirements and about the new tools now available from the facilitator of both the Creating Home II symposium and subsequent task forces.

The CMS Psychosocial Severity Outcome Guide and How to Put It to Good Use

In 2006, CMS issued it’s first-ever guide to surveyors on how to identify psychosocial outcomes and their severity of harm to long term care residents.  Become very familiar with the Guide itself, hear examples of psychosocial harm, gather ideas for using the Guide with staff and learn how to be proactive in identifying and preventing psychosocial harm.

SOFTEN the Move-In to LTC

Frustrated with how institutional and awkward the move-in process is? Would you like to offer better? Learn how all professionals can strive to get to know someone “over coffee instead of over a form” and truly welcome people to their new home helping them through what might be the most traumatic event of their lives. Softening our practice and putting the resident back in the driver’s seat of their life fits perfectly with the MDS 3.0 and its focus on resident voice and choice. Ideas come from the Action Pact workbook/ training DVD SOFTEN the Assessment Process co-authored by our guide. Ideas are for all professionals of all disciplines to soften all our institutional processes with the softer practices Support Simple Pleasures; Offer Options; Foster Friendships; Tie-in to Tasks; Equalize Everyone; Normalize Now.

Quality of Life: Delineating between Deficient, Common, and Culture Change Practice

For each of the federal Quality of Life regulations, deficient practice, common practice and culture change practice are identified and discussed.  Regarding dignity, time is taken to discuss the common use of undignified language in institutions along with suggested more dignified replacements to consider.  This session shares some of the content of a workbook with the same title which the speaker, a former surveyor, authored.  This has successfully been presented to providers and surveyors giving them neutral ground to work together.

Regulatory Compliance and Culture Change

This session shares the content of a new culture change workbook which the speaker, a former surveyor, authored. Learn how the CMS regulations not only support culture change but how culture change actually embodies what the writers of OBRA ’87 intended.  And when participants are placed in the role of surveyor, it becomes evident how common culture change practices are best practice. A review of which regulations pertain to each practice, state regulations, reminders, myths and tips regarding survey and culture change are also shared.

A Pep Rally for the Future of Aging in (states’ name)

We have much to celebrate in the culture change movement both nationally and in (state’s name).  Although there are many tools, it is also easy to experience (often perceived) barriers i.e., the “YES, BUTS”.   This (very good as an opening) session will empower and excite. Bring your “YES, BUT” questions, ideas as well as your unquenchable spirit for change to this, your own pep rally for changing institutional culture. We have decades showing it can be different.

Artifacts of Culture Change in Assisted Living

Principles, practices and models of person-directed care will be explored unique to assisted living drawing from the first-ever Artifacts of Culture Change for Assisted Living.

Don’t let Quality of Life get forgotten: The Quality of Life Regulations

A review of the CMS Psychosocial Severity Outcome Guide starts the workshop along with learning what constitutes psychosocial well-being.  We will brainstorm how social services and activities might become a tighter team dedicated to residents’ quality of life: Quality of Life – who’s in charge of it?; Assessment – What if we only did one?; End of Life wishes – approaching the subject; Support groups for helping residents deal with grief and loss; Highest practicable level of well-being, meaning and purpose; Putting the person back in the driver’s seat of their life; Learning Circles and Community Meetings; Resident Council/Neighborhood Councils – administrators and residents in charge; all fitting with the new CMS regulations.

Come on Long Term Care! Be the Best, Smash the Box, Be ready for the Baby Boomers

Are your residents still being woken up? Are new residents not allowed to bring their cat or dog? Are residents being made to wear alarms or eat certain foods? Are they being denied their God-given and federally mandated rights? Do we think these offered ways of living will attract Baby Boomers looking for homes for their parents now and someday themselves?  It’s time, don’t you think, to really offer Americans what they really want? Do the opposite of most institutions, partner with and engage and excite family members as they care just as much about the home where you work as you do. Reward staff longevity and dedication – which then promotes both. And, compete with your community’s best coffee shop and restaurant – really!

Reducing Antipsychotic Medications by Honoring the Person and their Preferences

Half of us do not eat breakfast.  Yet the number one driving force in every nursing home every day for getting people up is breakfast.  When asked how they would react to being awakened to eat a meal they don’t want, people say “mad” and “angry.” Someone inevitably says they would be “non-compliant” and administered a psychotropic drug.  Unfortunately, this is the norm and this is Unnecessary Drugs.  This is restraining a person for the convenience of staff and adherence to the “almighty schedule.”  This is non-compliance with federal requirements to honor a person’s preferences and choices.  What we’ve called behaviors aren’t really at all. They are either coping mechanisms to something one doesn’t want and/or unmet needs; is anyone else crabby when they are hungry or tired? It’s time people become so well-known and preferences so well-honored that drugs are truly unnecessary.

Move Beyond “Memory Care,” “Non-pharmalogical Approaches” and “Activity Programming” to Engagement in Real Life, Personalized Well-being and Highest Practicable Level of Well-being – all federal requirements

It’s time to move away from institutional, generic practices. Who wants to live locked up only with others who have dementia? Who wants to fold fake towels or baby clothes? A well-intended list of “non-pharmalogical approaches” can be non-individualized. And who votes for “activity programming” over engaging in real life? Let’s “take it up a notch.” Focus on life not only care, real life, normal life. CMS nursing home regulations require that the highest practicable level of well-being be maintained or attained for each person and the well-being domains of growth, comfort, security, identity, autonomy, connectedness, meaning and joy are not only what really matter to people but are also embedded in regulatory requirements.

How Dietitians/Social Workers/ Administrators/ Therapists/ Engagement/ Dining/Environmental Service/Nursing Professionals can Save the World of LTC

What people want is their life, their normal life the one they’ve led their whole life before moving into an institution.  Be challenged to move beyond the traditional, institutional ways of your discipline’s services to stimulate engagement with life on the person’s terms. Ponder how you can be better utilized as a coach and mentor to engage all staff with residents’ life preferences, routines and interests and how engagement with life can help prevent falls and what we call “behaviors,” eliminate the need for alarms, chemical restraints and more. We will think way outside the box to shake things up, putting the person in the forefront and the institution in the history books. Be inspired again like you were when you began your career and grab a hold of how your profession can change the world of long- term living!

Creating Joy and Festivity – for isolated people – during the Holidays

Many older people are isolated. Period. Before, during and after a pandemic, so enjoy the many ideas to inspire anyone who cares for any older isolated person whether you are with them or loving them from afar. Although the theme is around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays, take the ideas for all year round. And as always, we’ll put the person first, each individual’s interests, and what creates meaningful engagement, not busywork, not to be occupied.

Organizing, Planning – Helping others be who they want to be at New Years or anytime
Explore new year’s topics for yourself and those you serve. Consider resolutions, goals, commitments and/or baby steps. Offer organizing for those who want it with practical ideas for small spaces. We can no longer label people as “hoarders.” Take the kinder approach to go deeper with people to discover reasons for holding onto things – there are many. Learn what it means to give things away purposefully as well as purposeful keeping of items. Be reminded to not always tidy up everything for someone else. Give planning back to people living in nursing homes – their future self. Delve into dreams. Pick a word for the year. Be intentional about who you want to be in the new year.

Simple Practices to Shift Institutional to Individual and Institution to Home

Rejuvenate, Regroup. Now is the time to do things differently. Food = love. Be more individualized and less institutional. Lean into regulations that require honoring choice. Learn proactive, practical, simple, low to no cost ideas to shift from institution to home. Create a culture where people want to live and work starting with their tummies. 

Regrouping, Rejuvenating, and Renewing a Culture Change Commitment

Just as the culture change journey is a never-ending process and occasionally experiences “frost” as Eden has taught us, so it is within the ever-changing state culture change coalition.  After identifying and celebrating your coalition’s strengths, we will get to work on its challenges.  Work groups will be tasked with drafting a plan for several top priority chosen areas.  Each workgroup will then present their draft to the working board/committee as a whole to deliberate, tweak and prioritize in a doable strategic plan.  Also presented will be education on how other coalitions are functioning around the country in the spirit of learning from one another and growing.  (A half or whole day workshop for culture change coalition leadership.)

Public Speaking – Your Greatest Fear? Your Greatest Wish? Or both?

Maybe you’ve been asked to present; maybe this makes you tremble.  Join us for some encouragement and a lot of thinking through what happens when we speak in public, overcoming fears and nervousness, what makes a good presentation and where you could do more of it.

Carmen Bowman is a consultant, trainer, author and owner of Edu-Catering: Catering Education for Compliance and Culture Change, turning her former role of regulator into educator.  Carmen was a Colorado state surveyor, a policy analyst with CMS Central Office teaching the national Basic Surveyor Course, and the first certified activity professional to be a surveyor. As a contractor to CMS, Carmen co-developed the original Artifacts of Culture Change, Artifacts 2.0 and first-ever for Assisted Living, facilitated both Creating Home national symposiums on culture change and the environment, and then food and dining. Carmen led the Dining Practice Standards task force, meets quarterly with CMS Division of Nursing homes and co-authored The Power of Language to Create Culture. She has a Master’s in Healthcare Systems, a Bachelor’s in Social Work, is a Certified Eden Associate and Mentor, Certified Validation Worker, Group Practitioner and Presenter.  Carmen co-founded the Colorado Culture Change Coalition and facilitates the WY Culture Change Coalition. With Action Pact she has authored eight culture change workbooks and hosts Conversations in Culture Change with Carmen every month for 14 years now. Carmen is Co-Editor of Activities, Adaptations and Aging: Purposeful and Dignified Living for Older Adults and encourages communities to move from institutional, scheduled, sometimes-fake life to real/normal life honoring preferences, sleep, and choices of those who live there.

In-person trainings involve an honorarium and expenses; however, webinars and personalized Internet or teleconferencing team coaching is very affordable at an hourly rate.

carmen@edu-catering.com  303-981-7228 www.edu-catering.com  

www.Facebook.com/Edu-catering Free training video samples &The Culture Change Minute www.Patreon.com/educatering Compliance and culture change pay-per-view training videos

If you’ve never heard Carmen speak, check out her Edu-Catering YouTube channel for many free education offerings.

Ohio Person-Centered Care Coalition clip about highest practicable level of well-being required by CMS at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXiYOLQ7XoI

The Surplus Safety panel clip at the Eden Alternative International conference with Drs. Bill Thomas and Al Power at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXWwO-7s5jw; The Culture Change Minute on https://www.facebook.com/carmen47542