Rockingham County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Brentwood, New Hampshire is a county-run senior living community offering skilled rehabilitation, assisted living, and nursing center options. Established in 1869, Rockingham County’s continued commitment to the wellness of older adults is on display daily. This October, Rockingham County became one of the first senior living communities in the United States to be awarded the prestigious Memory Care Seal of Excellence by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP). This distinction recognizes Rockingham County’s commitment to providing exceptional dementia care and their dedication to advancing industry standards as part of the Memory Care Excellence Network (MCEN).
Jeseca Wendel, Public Relations and Community Outreach Manager remarked “We started really investing in our memory care services a little over 2 years ago when we started looking at new ways to serve residents and families.” Looking broadly at education and training, the team started by bringing in speakers to present to residents and families on the stages of dementia. The team then turned to NCCDP to train the memory care staff as Certified Dementia Practitioners (CDP). Rockingham County identified Kenneth Wing and Kris Andreozzi to become Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainers (CADDCT) to conduct the training in-house. Ken stated that “We started with training our Life Enrichment staff as well as the Unit Manager for our memory care neighborhood. We did this purposefully as the Life Enrichment team works all the floors and having the additional training in all areas of the community was one way we aimed to spread the higher level of training. Having the clinical leader of the memory care neighborhood also trained as a CDP ensured that the best dementia care practices were established from the top down.” In all, the team now has 2 CADDCT trainers and 19 CDPs.
“As a CADDCT, I find incredible joy in helping others understand the best practices in memory care. Each training is an investment in the future of our community and an opportunity to inspire compassionate care. Seeing the impact of our training in how caregivers connect with residents has been a huge motivation for me.” – Kenneth Wing, CADDCT
Dementia training has had a wide-ranging effect that has rippled through the community. Jeseca noted “We started dementia care from an activity’s lens – meeting residents’ psychosocial need throughout the day.” Not stopping with training, the team invested in providing virtual dementia tours were given to all the memory care staff, and then offered it to all staff on the campus in addition to families. “Just hearing the stories and hearing how every time we added something, it moved the needle a little bit. It helped us to understand from a scientific perspective, but also gave us empathy for the people living with dementia in our community. We can approach care from a person-centered perspective. We started to become more innovative in our interventions – anticipating behaviors before they happen. Day to day operations on the floor started to change based on our data. For example, we looked at fall data and started planning activities to circumvent some of those adverse outcomes by having activities and movement during times when residents are more susceptible to injury. Everyone from the front office manager on down benefits from training investments and allows everyone to live in empathy and grace.” Said Jeseca.
“This training has given our staff education, clarification, and – most of all – confidence in caring for those who live with dementia. They are reassured that the techniques and interventions they implement are backed with evidence-based practices and research.”
– Kenneth Wing, CADDCT
Families have also noticed the difference having certified staff has made. Ken noted that “We have had a few family members acknowledge the certifications and have remarked that it’s not only impressive that the community is pursuing these certifications but were also comforted to know that their loved ones are in well trained hands. We plan to use this distinction in our marketing materials and admissions process to stand out as a premier memory care provider in our area. Being part of this program allows us to showcase our dedication to providing exceptional care to those living with dementia.”
Top photo pictured above from left to right: Ginger Cole, Shayne Bolduc, Briana Roberts, Pat Gorski-Colson, Desiree Morgan, and Dawn Oliveto from the Life Enrichment team
rockinghamcountyseniorliving.com
