Every year on 21 September, World Alzheimer’s Day seeks to shed light on a complex condition that affects almost 50 million people around the world (SOURCE: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/world-alzheimers-day). Many people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia reside in care homes. There are many ways in which care home managers are able to help make their lives easier and happier, as well as those of their friends and family members.
Using Care Vision’s digital care management software can really help with this. To mark World Alzheimer’s Day 2023, the Care Vision team has put together some useful suggestions on how to use the system’s tools and functions to meet the ‘six Cs’ of dementia care.
Care
Clearly, quality care is, or should be, at the centre of everything that a care home provides to its residents with and without dementia. However, using Care Vision to support that care can really help elevate the services and support that are provided. Medical care features, such as eMAR and Nurse Call help residents receive the right medication and have access to emergency help when they need it. Digital reporting allows accurate data to be kept and updated to make sure that everyone involved in residents’ care knows what’s happening, 24/7. This is vital information, especially when a resident may be unable or unwilling to provide an update or describe how they are feeling.
Compassion
Providing compassionate care to residents living with dementia is vital. Helping them to feel safe, looked after and comfortable can make all the difference to their physical and emotional wellbeing. A large part of this involves making sure that you follow the principles of person-led care. This places the individual at the heart of their own choices around care provision. Care Vision allows staff to set up and update individual entries for each resident to record personal preferences, food likes and dislikes, background and personal history, cultural or religious information and much more. All of this helps carers get to know those in their care and offer them compassionate, personalised support.
Competence
Staff competency is easy to track using Care Vision. Residents’ data is constantly updated so you can see how they have been looked after and spot any gaps in their care. Care Vision can also help managers work out staff training needs and keep an eye on absence records, clocking in times and rota management. All of this can help maintain higher levels of staff competency to protect vulnerable residents, reassure families and elevate the care home’s reputation for effective, competent care. The system can also help care home managers asked to complete audits and inspections to prove competence, as the digital records act as a convincing paper trail.
Communication
Being able to communicate with residents, family members, external medical professionals, therapists, social services and others is an integral part of working with residents who have dementia. Communications can often be a difficult issue with those who experience cognitive impairments and dementia-related conditions. Having a convenient, accessible portal to share and exchange information and provide a record of what’s been agreed and carried out is vital to keep everyone in touch with what has been happening when.
Courage
Working with people living with dementia takes a number of key character attributes. One of these is the willingness and ability to tackle difficult subjects and to advocate and speak up for those in your care. Care Vision has a number of functions to help carers ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents. These include several monitoring tools, such as fluid intake and weight management. These can help care teams keep track of progress and alert them to anything that could be of concern. There are also feedback mechanisms included that can help staff provide updates and insights into what is happening at the care home.
Commitment
Finally, Care Vision can help you and your team commit fully to taking the best possible care of residents living with dementia. From electronic visitor books and activity planning to help improve quality of life to auditing and reporting tools to help with compliance and safeguarding. The system enables busy care home managers to handle multiple tasks in one place. Being able to transfer several admin and reporting tasks to a digital system frees up carers’ paperwork commitments so they can spend more time getting to know their residents and their families.
