Reframing dementia-related behaviours and how to positively respond.

At times we may get frustrated and label the person living with dementia as having behaviours, but we need to keep in mind this quote by Ashleigh Warner, a psychologist:

“Beneath every behaviour there is a feeling. And beneath every feeling there is a need. And when we meet that need rather than focus on the behaviour, we begin to deal with the cause, not the symptom.”

When supporting and interacting with a person who is living with dementia, it is important to see ourselves as a care partner rather than a caregiver. As a care partner, we are invested, collaborating, and in a relationship with the person living with dementia and as a result the care we provide is different – we have a “we are in this together” mentality for improved quality outcomes and care. Using this care partnering approach to identify and address the cause of the behaviour will improve the quality of our interactions and quality of care provided.

This free webinar will include the above presentation and then plenty of time for Q&A and discussion.

Meet Your Webinar Host:

Joan Leo, Learning Product Manager, The Allied Health Academy.

Joan is an allied health professional and learning and development specialist with over 20 years experience in the health and higher education sectors. Joan brings educational expertise, creativity and innovation to The Allied Health Academy (TAHA) to support delivering education experiences and fostering communities of practice that connect and empower learners.

Meet Your Webinar Presenters:

Emily Briggs, OTR/L, RAC-CT, PAC Certified Independent Trainer

Emily has been practicing occupational therapy for over 20 years. She is the co-founder and principal of Empowering Care Partners, a company providing training and consulting to individuals living with dementia and their care partners who support them, including family members, dementia care professionals, and organizations. Emily also provides occupational therapy services in Assisted Living and Independent Living communities. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Clinical Compliance for a skilled nursing company, in regional clinical and director of rehabilitation roles for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). In each role, Emily has focused on clinical programming and mentorship of students, new grads, and those new to the SNF setting. She has also been involved in the planning and training for addressing regulatory updates and payment model changes.

Emily holds an Independent Trainer Certification with Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care (PAC) and provides training to care partners of all levels in the care of those living with dementia. She is also a certified Resident Assessment Coordinator (RAC-CT) and provides training to therapists and nurses on documentation to support coding of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) for accurate reimbursement.

Emily is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and was part of their Leadership Development for Middle Managers Class of 2016. She has also served AOTA on a variety of Technical Expert Panels and Advisory Groups.

Laurie Walther, MS, CCC-SLP, PAC Certified Independent Trainer

Laurie is an ASHA certified, Texas licensed Speech Language Pathologist with over 26 years of experience primarily in the Skilled Nursing setting. She is the co-founder and principal of Empowering Care Partners, a company providing training and consulting to individuals living with dementia and their care partners who support them, including family members, dementia care professionals, and organizations. Laurie currently provides speech therapy services in Assisted Living communities and in the acute care hospital setting and is part of the Residency team for a college working alongside instructors and with graduate students on applying their clinical skills and knowledge. Laurie recently co-created a programming support series "Eating Well with Dementia", collaborating with colleagues in Malaysia and Wales. This has progressed to working with the Ministry of Health in Malaysia and they have endorsed the creation of a process to progress the training throughout Malaysia.

Laurie is a Certified Independent Trainer with Teepa Snow's Positive Approach to Care, and she provides training and support to care partners and persons living with dementia. She has served as a mentor and leader to her partners, corporate members, staff clinicians, families and caregivers, and patients and residents. She has created many clinical, educational, and operational programs that have been carried out at the community level, corporate wide, nationally, and internationally.  Laurie has been a staff clinician, clinical leader, director of rehab, regional director, and senior vice president of rehab.  She loves teaching, mentoring and leading individuals to maximize their best to support those we serve. 

This webinar is brought to you by The Allied Health Academy. Learn more about our online community of practice: free to join.

This webinar is available for free viewing live on the event date. If you miss it and want to watch the replay, it will be available in the Allied Health Assistants Global CPD Collective on our Mighty Networks platform. For more information and link to subscribe, please visit: AHA CPD (mn.co).