Jessica 
served as a Person-centered Care Coach on project in Washington State spearheaded by the Alzheimer’s Association. The project aimed to help long-term care facilities improve quality care for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia by implementing the Alzheimer’s Association’s Dementia Practice Care Recommendations. Welsch was the first author on an award-winning abstract describing the program, presented at the Western Institute of Nursing’s April 2024 conference. Read more about the project in the recent Northwest PrimeTime article.
How did you get involved with this project?
This was an opportunity that came up through the Alzheimer’s Association. They were doing an innovative model to try to increase person-centered care in these long term care facilities. They proposed a plan with the State of Washington, where they would take some of the money that the state has committed to reinvest in quality care and nursing homes, and fund this project, which was to improve person-centered care for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
What interested you about getting involved in this project in particular?
I have a personal interest, like many people who work in dementia care. My dad had dementia and we struggled to find quality care and supports, and this project seemed like a great opportunity to increase access to those resources for other families like ours. In this project I got to support professional care providers in nursing homes who would interact directly both with families and people living with dementia, so it felt very impactful.
How did this program aim to change things in long-term care facilities?
This program was based off the quality improvement program from the federal government. The idea was that it improves person-centered care, which is the gold standard of care in any kind of care community, but particularly for people living with dementia.
We introduced change through a strength-based coaching model. They called it transformational change, which means that the change should transcend any one participant in the program, or any one resident, or any one family, or any one provider, because the action plans that we completed become embedded in the culture of the care community.
The coaching program used the Dementia Care Practice Recommendations to structure what those changes should be in the context of dementia or Alzheimer’s. The recommendations provide specific, evidence-based actions that professional care providers can use, so it’s easier to know how to increase quality care.
What does person-centric care look like for people with dementia?
It’s really similar to person-centric care anywhere, which focuses on the person in front of you, what their individual needs and goals are, and knowing them as a person. Person-centered care focuses on building and maintaining a relationship with the person as opposed to just focusing on the care.
You talked to about culture change being the goal. How did you all try to implement culture change?
We focused on things practices and policies that would become part of the regular standard operating procedures, and so would be something that’d be incorporated every day going forward.
One of the actions that was super popular to do was a Get-to-Know-Me form for new residents. This is so important to find out who’s coming in and what are they into. What do they like to talk about? What do they hate to talk about? How can staff connect with them?
When you implement that as part of your intake process that just becomes a part of the culture. People get excited to know who’s coming in. It changes the way people see who’s coming in, if they have some more personal details or might see points of connection.
Why is this work important to do?
This particular work was important because it’s so validating for the staff, but also for the residents and even their families. The impacts are wide ranging, and they can be tailored to specific areas for each community.
The other thing that’s neat and that provides an impact for this program, is that it is a huge body of research backed knowledge just for people living with Alzheimer’s or dementia. It is hard for care communities to get specific instruction and specific guidelines that are that tailored to people living with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
I heard you also started about podcast about dementia?
Yes, I did start a podcast. My family relied a lot on podcasts when my dad had dementia, and I thought it’d be fun to do one.
How long has it been running?
It’s been running for a little over a year. It’s called Everyday Dementia Guide. It’s posted about weekly. It’s short individual episodes on different topics for people who are doing the everyday routine with dementia, like living at home, and just making their way the best they can.
What’s your goal or hope with the podcast?
My goal is just to provide resources and information to the family caregivers who are looking for this information. I know that when I was in the journey it was hard to find a specific answer to an everyday challenge. Your doctor doesn’t know, the nurses don’t know, your psychologist doesn’t know, the people who know are others who have also faced those everyday challenges at home. A lot of people have trouble getting to a support group, which would be a great place to have that information, either because they in a rural area, or there’s sometimes a stigma with attending a support group, or even being able to leave their loved one alone to attend the group. So, this is a way to get information and tips and communication ideas to people where they’re at.
Is there anything else that you would like to share?
One of the things I hear a lot in this area is that it’s so hard to know where people are at. A lot of people don’t get diagnosed with dementia, even if they have it, even if everyone thinks they have it that knows them, they’ll never get diagnosed, and they’ll never get tested. The diagnosis process is kind of long and doesn’t always get completed. I encourage people to try to just to look at what’s in front of them, and take things on a day-to-day basis. People say that if you know one person with dementia, you know one person with dementia. It’s so individual.
The other thing I really like to share is that if this is something that you’re living with or supporting, it’s super important to get a support team in place. So reach out to the Alzheimer’s Association or somebody who knows about Alzheimer’s to start building that team so that you can stay in it for the long run and avoid burnout.