Pioneer Network’s Hot Topics: Culture Change in Action Webinar

August 23, 2018: Addressing the Staffing Crisis
Guide: Denise Boudreau-Scott, President DRIVE

Solving the complex staffing problem requires the involvement of stakeholders and providers like you! Leaders, including direct supervisors, have a significant impact on retention and recruitment of the best talent. Providers can no longer afford to think of an engaged workforce as an appealing goal, but essential for improving the resident experience, customer service, quality, and financial outcomes. Attracting the right people, keeping them, and inspiring them to perform at their highest level is not only a nicety in today’s world, it’s a necessity!

Action Pact: Conversations with Carmen

May 11, 2018: Black Balloons or a Rainbow of Colors: How Our Perceptions of Aging Affect the Care We Provide
Guest Presenter:  Penny Cook, MSW; President/CEO of the Pioneer Network

We’ve all done it – sent an “over the hill” card to someone, purchased “anti-aging” products, refused to say our age and maybe even given the dreadful black balloons on a milestone birth celebration. It’s part of our culture, right? It’s meant to be funny. It helps us cope with the fact we’re getting older. But how does it really affect us? More importantly, how does it affect the care and support we provide to Elders? In this conversation, we’ll explore how our own perceptions of getting older as well as those of the general society affect our long-term care system as well as our specific care practices. Let’s be the change we want to see!

Action Pact: Conversations with Carmen

April 13, 2018: Cognitive Health and Resident Engagement
Guest Presenter: Megan Hannan, Action Pact Consultant, Developer of PersonFirst® program

We have been exploring resident health and well-being holistically, and in March we were inspired by The Transformative Power of Purpose, when we learned about and heard from residents of Rockport Healthcare Services’ 70 communities in California who serve the homeless in their respective communities every month. In keeping with our theme, the show in April will look at the connection between engagement and cognitive health. Megan will share the most current research in cognitive science, brain health and engagement. We’ll discuss types of engagement and suggestions for ensuring meaningful engagement, as well as outcomes of engagement on well-being, quality of life and staff satisfaction.

MC5 Roadshow Conference

May 21, 2018: Inspired Leaders, Inspired Teams, Inspired Results
Location: St. Joseph Medical Center, Kansas City

May 22, 2018: Inspired Leaders, Inspired Teams, Inspired Results
Location: Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center, Columbia

May 23, 2018: Inspired Leaders, Inspired Teams, Inspired Results
Location: St. Charles Community College, Cottleville

As you walk through the hallways, does EVERYONE truly appear as engaged as they do on your website? Imagine the levels of service our external customers would experience if all staff “embraced change,” “owned problems,” and took “personal accountability” for creating a service-driven community. Imagine if every member of every department was committed to the mission, vision, values of the organization. Imagine if every leader took seriously their role as a coach, advocate, and mentor and felt intimately linked to the success of their staff.

As leaders, we have the ability and accountability to close the gap between the promises of the website and reality. MC5 Welcomes Internationally Renowned Workplace Culture Expert, Christopher Ridenhour! Please see the flyer or the MC5 Roadshow Conference webpage for more details.

MC5 Restorative Sleep Vitality Program

April 3, 2018: Making a Night and Day Difference: Creating a Culture of Restorative Sleep
Location: Holiday Inn St. Louis-Route 66, St. Louis

April 4, 2018: Making a Night and Day Difference: Creating a Culture of Restorative Sleep
Location: White Oak Living Center, Independence

Part 1 – Making a Night and Day Difference: Creating a Culture of Restorative Sleep

Empira, a consortium of Aging Service providers in Minnesota, will share the findings from their Restorative Sleep program that has made a night and day difference for the residents they serve. This program was developed after identifying sleep fragmentation as a primary contributor to falls, behavioral expression, pain, incontinence, skin breakdown, unnecessary use of antipsychotics, and decline in function.

Empira will share successful strategies for creating a culture of sleep with consideration of all 24 hours in a day. This is Part 1 of a three part series. Join all or some of these presentations. Please see the Restorative Sleep Vitality Program flyer for more details.

Pioneer Network’s Hot Topics: Culture Change in Action Webinar

April 19, 2018: The New Alzheimer’s Association’s Dementia Care Practice Recommendations: Supporting the Emotional Well-Being of Individuals Living with Dementia
Guide: Danelle Hubbard, BSW, MA, Director of Family Services, Alzheimer’s Association, Colorado Chapter

This webinar will provide a brief overview of the New Dementia Care Practice Recommendations related to the emotional well-being of individuals living with dementia. Participants will learn about behavioral and communication challenges along with person-centered care strategies that offer healthier emotional support.

May 17, 2018: Meet and Go Beyond New CMS Regulations by Engaging Residents with Real LIfe (focus: Activities Critical Element Pathway)
Guide: Carmen Bowman, MHS, BSW, Owner Edu-Catering

The institution has failed us by compartmentalizing parts of the persons we serve and then compartmentalizing who serves which part of the divided person. All staff need education, encouragement and permission to engage residents. Contrived group activities often fail people, they need personalized and purposeful engagement to fill their otherwise empty days. See what can happen when all team members learn the value of meaningful engagement to move from “activity programming” to meaningful engagement with real life. Soon gone are the days of groups. Residents are telling us they don’t want them, and many can’t function in them. We need to 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 serving Baby Boomers, to people living with dementia, it needs to be different.

June 21, 2018: Activities of Daily Living – Supporting Independence (Focus on ADL and Rehab Restorative CEP)
Guide: Dr. Kathleen Weissberg , Select Rehab

As a caregiver, it is important to encourage independence in seniors and to provide the opportunity for them to maintain a better quality of life for themselves. Because of the many demands on our time in our daily roles in health care, it is easy to get into the habit of doing things “for” individuals rather than “with” them. Let’s face it — it can be more efficient to do everything yourself. But is that helping elders to maintain function, improve quality of life, stay healthier and live independently longer.

The true art of caregiving for the elderly extends beyond task-oriented responsibilities and includes engaging in activities that help maintain a healthy spirit and body.

In this session, you will learn about ways in which you can assist an individual with everyday activities of daily living while supporting independence and helping him/her keep a sense of self-respect.

2018 Pioneer Network Conference

August 12-15, 2018: Pioneering a New Culture of Aging Conference
Location: Sheraton Denver Downtown, Denver, Colorado

Pioneer Network will be hosting our annual conference, Pioneering a New Culture of Aging, bringing together individuals from across the United States and other countries who care deeply about changing the culture of aging, creating opportunities for communication, networking and learning with and from each other as they share innovative thought and best practices.

You are invited to tour the conference website to learn about all the exciting opportunities you will have when you join your fellow Pioneers in Denver this coming August. We promise, as one of our attendees shared with us after her first Pioneer Network conference, that you will “find your people” and that during our time together in Denver, you will fill your bucket, and go back home renewed and ready to go the next mile, knowing that culture change and transformation are not destinations, but journeys, always works in progress.