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A number of Bethany staff members attended the Alberta Continuing Care Association (ACCA) Inspiring Quality (IQ) Conference in Red Deer on September 27 and 28 and our team made several presentations on a variety of important topics including community engagement, sleep quality improvement, enhanced dining experience and family onboarding.

The conference was an opportunity to showcase Bethany’s leadership and commitment to service excellence, and it was also a chance to learn from others in our industry.

A conference highlight was the awards ceremony where Barb George, a longtime Bethany volunteer received the Volunteer of the Year award. Congratulations to several staff members who were nominated for the Alberta Care Provider of the Year award.

Bethany Harvest Hills recently welcomed some very special short-term residents, a litter of foster kittens. The experience was very positive for residents, families, staff members and the kittens! Community member Amanda Bond started the PURR project in Calgary after hearing about a similar program with Pima Animal Care Centre in Arizona. Amanda works in health care and cared for her own mother for 10 years after her dementia diagnosis – she is also a huge cat lover, so the program sounded like something she needed to do.

Amanda matched Bethany Harvest Hills with ARF for the PURR Project and their first four, four-week-old kittens arrived in late May and residents and staff named them Lucy, Angus, Pippi and Chloe. Happily, all were adopted by staff or resident families.

Amanda says, “The most poignant thing we experienced with the kittens was the family who adopted Angus (black male kitten). The adult daughter of a resident was coming to the care centre daily because her loved one
was palliative. She would take Angus from the kitten cage to the room and nestle him close to her loved one and his loud purring had a calming effect. Angus also snuggled and played with her in the room which helped her during this difficult time. She formed a strong bond with Angus and, on the day her loved one passed away, she applied to adopt Angus. Now he is a happy, healthy kitten in their home shared with two other cats.”

The program has brought awareness to the cat overpopulation in Alberta, the need for foster and adoptive homes, and the positive impact on both kittens and dementia care residents alike. To read the full article click here.

In August, we shared some tips on how to build resiliency in your life. This month, we share additional resiliency tips that can help you when you are experiencing challenges.

1. Give yourself a break from media

• When a national or world event is dominating the news, avoid over-exposure to media, especially if it is making you feel ineffective, anxious or unable to have control of your life. Unplug for part of each day from all your sources of media and news.
  

2. Keep your life simple

• Simplifying your life is especially important during stressful times.
• Streamline your routines and set limits to protect your time. Plan simple meals. Resist signing up for too many activities or over-committing yourself. Don’t be afraid to say “no.”
• Make time for simple pleasures, such as playing with your pet, or sitting and drinking a good cup of tea with someone you love.

3. Practice relaxation techniques

• Deep breathing, meditation, mindfulness and yoga are four widely used relaxation techniques that can help improve mental and physical well-being. Do whatever you can do to feel better and calm down. It will help you build resilience.

Source: Estelle Morrison, LifeWorks Canada

As the Volunteer Coordinator at Bethany CollegeSide, Ann Van Hemmen demonstrates service excellence, including continuous improvement, every day. The popular gift store at Bethany CollegeSide is operated by Ann and is a huge hit with residents, staff and visitors.

The idea began over two years ago when Ann saw a need for an affordable store for residents and families to be able to purchase personal items, so she started from the ground up, creating an impressive inventory of quality products, which are purchased wholesale and then sold at affordable prices.

In the beginning, Ann mostly sold personal care items, but has expanded the store to include giftware, scarves, greeting cards, jewelry and more. Not only are items reasonably priced, but residents directly benefit from all the profits made at the store.

This year, residents are able to participate in Art Expressions, an art program and professional art supplies completely funded by the store profits. In 2016, the store funded activity lap blankets and wall mounted activity stations for cognitively impaired residents. Ann says that networking and understanding your customer community is very important to the shop’s success. She volunteers her own time to host shopping events on evenings and weekends for the greater Red Deer community, which often gets them involved in volunteering and donating to Bethany.

Ann says that the store is one of her proudest achievements at Bethany, and is a way she can directly help create a caring community. Ann often takes special requests from families, putting together affordable gift arrangements on special occasions for the residents or simply dropping off a greeting card from their loved one. The store provides a comforting space for residents to visit and shop with friends. Thank you, Ann, for being a great example of how Bethany employees go above and beyond, continually improving our services with innovative ideas.

“Measure Twice, Cut Once”

One of my favorite proverbs (and I have many!) is, “measure twice, cut once.” While this proverb has its origins in carpentry, it can be applied much more broadly.

The literal translation of “measure twice, cut once” is that one should double-check one’s measurements for accuracy before cutting a piece of wood; otherwise it may be necessary to cut again, wasting time and material. The figurative translation is that one should plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taking action and it is this that resonates with me.

Measuring twice means making sure that you have studied the situation thoroughly before moving forward; you have thought of the many scenarios that could occur, and you have thought of a “Plan B” if things don’t go as planned.

As we have moved forward with a number of large initiatives at Bethany over the past months, “measure twice, cut once” is a rule of thumb that has come in handy. When I think about some of the changes we have made in the organization recently, thorough and careful planning has been paramount to ensuring a successful implementation. This goes for the work that we have done around introducing new technologies such as Point Click Care Progress Notes, e-MAR and in short order, Kronos (Staff Scheduling). It can also be said for the impending introduction of our new Community Alternate Level of Care Program at Bethany Calgary and our Site Based Quality and Safety Committees. These are just a few examples of where the “measure twice, cut once” principle has been important. It is also important in our everyday lives…take extra time now to avoid potential mistakes or disappointment later.

I encourage you to think about this principle. Measure twice and only cut once you understand your situation, have checked your assumptions and have crafted a plan!

As always, I welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have. Please send them to me at nancy.hughes@bethanyseniors.com.

Regards,

– Nancy

Lauren MacFarlane is a clinical educator at Bethany and takes pride in her performance management experience. When the performance management program was introduced to staff last spring she was excited to develop her goals and take ownership in achieving them. Lauren focused on clinical education, working with her team to set individual and collaborative goals.

Now halfway through the performance management year, Lauren says she carries around a printed copy of her goals in her work book to make sure she is on track.

Two of Lauren’s goals are:

• Collaboratively creating a medication assistance program for supportive living at Bethany Airdrie and Cochrane.
• Reviewing current tools for pain management in collaboration with the palliative/end of life care educator, which will result in an education component for mandatory training in 2018.

Focusing on her goals in her day-to-day work helps keep Lauren focused, while also recognizing that things may change along the way and it’s important to be flexible. Lauren says the performance management program creates the opportunity for staff to have new experiences to learn and grow. Lauren is excited to showcase her work at the end of the year, and hopes her colleagues will be inspired and be open to learning something along the way!

Comfort carts are an important component of Bethany’s end of life care. Since being introduced in 2012, comfort carts provide families of palliative care residents with the comforts of home, including fresh fruits and baked goods, refreshments, an iPad with music and various apps, a speaker system, a spiritual care box and reading materials. Brenda Slobozian, Clinical Educator at Bethany Calgary oversees the program and works with her team to continually improve the resources available to families.

Communications, Information Systems, Pastoral Care, Aramark and staff who work directly with residents all contribute their ideas to the carts. There are now a total of nine comfort carts across Bethany that provide family members with hospitality and kindness. It is one more way Bethany is demonstrating service excellence and the response is very positive. Brenda says, “Service excellence gives us a clear focus and direction to work towards, and I am proud to work in an organization that is focused on service excellence for our residents. If care staff members have a good idea to improve service at Bethany, please discuss it with your manager and onsite quality representative.”

Thank you to Brenda and team for improving the resident and family care experience at Bethany with the comfort carts.