Senior Placement

Patience, redirection, engagement, and love are the four tools I use every day to be successful. I am the current Memory Care Director of an Alzheimer’s/Dementia unit at Ridgeland Place Assisted Living and Memory Care in Ridgeland, MS. We are at full capacity, which is a great accomplishment. Our goal is to enhance all lives with kindness and integrity. Despite the senior citizens being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they still have the right and deserve to be treated like adults. I ask myself, “If it was me, how would I want to be treated?” If we all individually ask ourselves that question and produce the same answer I have, then we have the same mindset. 

Working in healthcare with vulnerable adults can be a challenging but rewarding experience, particularly for seniors with Alzheimer’s. It is amazing how fast the disease progression causes a sharp decline in the elderly. I know, after being in this field for over three years now, it still shocks me how I can be laughing and reminiscing with a resident one week and the next; their confusion has heightened, and their cognitive stability has become more unstable. Outbursts of abnormal behaviors have become more pressing and recurring. Most importantly, why is patience a key factor? Not only me but my staff as well. If you were to ask the resident, “Why did you do that?” they would respond that they did not know. Honestly, they do not know. Thus, it is imperative for my staff to learn the personalities of every individual resident who decided to make our Connections Neighborhood, what we call our memory care, their home. This tool ties in with the next and is our main force in helping combat the various symptoms a resident with Alzheimer’s will display.

Redirection! A term used in all facilities with vulnerable adults to refocus and minimize potential aggressive behavior. It is never an easy transition for residents entering a new environment, potentially a place where they may be for the duration of their lifespan. Although diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, seniors with this disease can still vividly remember certain moments, places, and people in their lives and can recount moments that happened over 20 years ago as if they happened 20 minutes ago. However, they are unable to recall that they moved into this Connections Neighborhood. As a result, this will cause residents with Alzheimer’s to try to exit, return to their old place of residency, or live with a deceased spouse that is no longer subsisting but is in their hippocampus. Therefore, redirection is a repetitive, routine method I use and train my staff to use in their everyday encounters. It is also helpful in gaining participation for engagement. Learning about their former occupation, favorite pastime, favorite food, genre of music, and level of sociability helps redirection not only for the safety of the individual senior but also for others. Programming is key in redirecting techniques.

"Patience, redirecting, engagement, and love are the four tools you need to make any new senior placement successful. They are a part of the family now: One Connections Neighborhood, One Family!"

The Alzheimer’s Association sets the following standard for activity programming in dementia care, “Activity programming is fundamental in dementia care because it maximizes independence while focusing on strengths and abilities.” In other words, engagement. Our senior vice president of health and wellness for Pegasus Senior Living, Dr. Sandra Petersen, created the intentional programming of connect, move, and learn. Her utilization of this programming into the everyday routine of our memory care residents was based on neuroplasticity. Engagement helps prolong the longevity of a senior citizen with Alzheimer’s. With patience, redirection into meaningful, fun programming helps the connection that develops between you and the resident. This also helps with agitation, overthinking, and depression of the senior resident. Equally importantly, make sure it is all done with love.

There is an old saying that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. Growing up, my grandmother was a spiritual woman who would help others despite not having it all herself. She is one of my role models, and I have always admired that about her. Her caring, kindhearted spirit is what inspired me to get into healthcare and help those who need help the most: senior citizens. Moreover, it must be done with love. Every day, I direct my staff to come in with positivity, optimism, and love for the residents as if they were your own because they cannot help the current state that they are enduring. Patience, redirecting, engagement, and love are the four tools you need to make any new senior placement successful. They are a part of the family now: One Connections Neighborhood, One Family!