November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.  This month marks a great time to evaluate how you are providing person-centered activity programs that meet the needs and abilities of your residents living with dementia.

In a feature article in the November edition of Provider Magazine, guest author Jillian Thomas, director of assisted living operations at Covenant Retirement Communities, the nation’s sixth largest not-for-profit senior services provider, and co-author of the book, The Big Book of Senior Living Activities poses a series of questions to help you evaluate your activity programming.  

• Are activities meaningful, engaging, individualized, and appropriate for the resident’s stage of dementia?
• Do staff understand the communication challenges associated with cognitive impairment, and are they trained to intervene?
• Are there opportunities for family members or fellow resident volunteers to participate?
• Are staff assessing the actual abilities of the resident rather than making assumptions about inabilities?

Read the full article, Resident-Centered Policy for Dementia Activities Makes Life Better for tips on conducting activities for residents in different stages of dementia, how to use multi-sensory rooms, addressing communications challenges, and using nonverbal communication cues.