Dr. Hayley Moseley, ACC, CADDCT, CDP, CMDCP, CDCS, CDCM, has been an activity professional for more than 25 years and now serves as the director of Campus Education for CC Young Senior Living, a forward-thinking Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in Dallas that has been serving senior adults since 1922. As a CCRC, CC Young offers Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Support, Long Term Care, Rehabilitation, and more.
In its mission to foster premier environments where every life at every age is valued and enriched, CC Young launched the PATHWAYS program in July as a bridge to care for the growing number of older adults who are experiencing mild cognitive decline but are not ready to enter full memory support. Dr. Moseley remarked, “There is an increasing need in Dallas and at CC Young for care that is in between assisted living and memory support. PATHWAYS provides our residents with extra support with their daily living activities, personal interaction, and additional structured activities in an intimate care setting.”
Critical components to the success of the PATHWAYS program and benefits to its residents and their families are the patient care ratio of seven to one, staff who are trained Certified Dementia Practitioners, a dedicated Certified Nursing Assistant available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and a dedicated Life Enrichment Director responsible for creating structured activities that are cognitively stimulating, which draw on the Seven Pillars of Wellness.
“We know from experience, families often struggle with accepting the need for advancing levels of care for a parent or family member who is experiencing cognitive decline. These decisions can be accompanied by a sense of grief and loss. With PATHWAYS, our staff can provide emotional support in accepting the fact their loved one needs more assistance, easing the transition to higher levels of care.”
PATHWAYS is available to CC Young residents as well as non-residents from the community at-large. PATHWAYS residents live on a dedicated floor in The Hillside, participate in assisted living scheduled activities, and have more structured activities during “down time” because research shows that a guided program like PATHWAYS can slow cognitive decline and help individuals maintain engagement and function.
Fewer than one in five Americans are familiar with mild cognitive impairment. The CC Young team members who have gone through the NCCDP training are more readily able to notice changes in a resident’s behavior – increased isolation, depression, and decreased cognition – sooner than the families can because of the close, daily interactions. Moseley noted, “CC Young staff develop personal relationships with our residents, and it was these relationships that told us a program like PATHWAYS was needed.”
CC Young received a grant from AWARE that allowed the CCRC many opportunities to support dementia programs and training, including Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) training. To date, more than 70 CC Young caregivers have received their CDP certification, and more are being added regularly. “PATHWAYS is a scalable program. As PATHWAYS grows, more team members will be added. Both PATHWAYS and Memory Support staff will complete NCCDP training. We want our caregivers to be the best of the best and will require they are CDPs.”
“PATHWAYS and CDP training illustrate CC Young leadership’s ongoing commitment to improving quality of life for our residents and our team members , making both feel valued and enriched. It’s an investment in our team members to provide the highest training and quality of care to increase job satisfaction, loyalty, and longevity.”
Dr. Moseley recently celebrated 10 years with CC Young and loves her role. More than 48 current employees have been with CC Young for more than 10 years, and the longest is nearly 40 years. This level of staff dedication and longevity can be directly attributed to sound leadership, positive workplace culture, and leadership’s commitment to investing in educational initiatives, training and support for CC Young Staff.
