Community Stories/News

Morrison Team Presents at Alzheimer’s Conference

Mary Bates, Director of the Memory Care Community at Summit by Morrison and the Morrison Skilled Nursing Facility, led a team from the Morrison Communities in presenting a session at the recent Conference for Alzheimer’s Care Professionals. More than 800 leaders in the dementia care field attended. ‘

The 26th annual conference, hosted by the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter, was held May 22 at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.

Bates was joined by Pamela Webster, Wendy Bennett, Kelly Mackillop and Chrissy Gooden from the Morrison Communities as they presented “Educating and Motivating Your Staff: Implementing Person-Centered Habilitation Therapy Training.”

Webster, Bennett and Mackillop are nurses within the Morrison Communities, while Gooden is the Activities Director at the Morrison Skilled Nursing Facility.

Habilitation Therapy is a non-pharmacological person-centered care approach to dementia care. The presentation focused on the benefits of an evidence-informed train the-trainer program for staff members as well as individuals living with dementia. Strategies on how to get consensus from administration, how to motivate and empower staff and real-life examples were shared to help professionals start a training program in their care setting.

At the Morrison Communities, 94 percent of the entire staff has gone through the training. In addition, the Morrison Communities hosted five Community Dementia Education sessions this spring and had an average of 28 participants at each session, with many attending all five sessions.

“The training provides our entire staff with the resources to best care for residents with dementia,” Bates says. “And the community education is a wonderful way for families and home caregivers to better understand how to care for people with dementia. We were honored and so happy to share what we are doing with other professionals.”

The Morrison Communities

The Morrison Communities are in Whitefield, in the heart of northern New Hampshire, and include the Morrison Skilled Nursing Facility, Sartwell Place and Summit by Morrison, a senior living community. For more information, go to www.themorrison.org or summitbymorrison.org.

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