Sunshine’s approach to collaborative care begins with in-depth discovery and an ongoing, detailed assessment process centered around individual needs, values, and preferences to create custom Person-Centered Care for each resident. It depends upon open and transparent communication and equal collaboration across all departments. The end result is an approach in which each individual resident benefits from the six core tenets of Person-Centered Care.
For example, a housekeeper overhears a resident’s conversation in which she reminisces about baking cornbread with her mother. The housekeeper understands the conversation opens opportunities to build happy memories within the six core tenets of Person-Centered Care and shares it with teammates.
SUPPORTS INDEPENDENCE:
The housekeeper offers to help the resident tidy up, and they dust together while building on the conversation about favorite cooking. The resident feels like she is participating rather than simply being served.
ENHANCES DIGNITY:
Caregivers use the same strategy as a redirection tool any time a resident is reluctant to receive care and support with daily activities so that they do not feel forced to participate in unwanted activities.
PROMOTES POSITIVE WELL-BEING:
The Health Services Director and Executive Director use this information as a positive call to the family, sharing discovery with them and leading to more beneficial family and resident interactions when visiting.
IMPROVES QUALITY OF LIFE:
The Life Enrichment Director adds this cooking life skill to her personalized activity care plan for the resident. Reminiscing topics related to her childhood are researched and used in one-on-one and group interactions. A kit of kitchen tools and kitchen towels like those from her childhood is developed through partnering with family members.
HONORS CHOICES AND EMPOWERS RESIDENTS:
The Executive Chef engages the resident in re-creating her mother’s recipe for cornbread in the same style as the resident prefers it. Then the Chef and the resident do a cooking activity together (the bread is prepared beforehand and reheated), giving the resident the
opportunity to share her beloved mother’s recipe with all residents.
The important factor in Sunshine’s Person-Centered Care is the collaboration of team members who understand the importance of communication and participation. The development of this approach begins in the earliest phases of our relationship with the resident and family, and it involves every level of the community’s team, from front desk staff and housekeeping to executive directors.
