Holbrook Health Center at Piper Shores Receives Excellence Award for Memory Care Planning and Development
Scarborough, ME (PRWEB) October 05, 2013 -- Holbrook Health Center at Piper Shores today announced that it has received an Innovative Programming Award from the Maine Health Care Association (MHCA) for Memory Care Planning and Development. Through its Celebrating Excellence Awards Program, MCHA annually honors nursing care providers that have designed and implemented an outstanding program that has demonstrated success in improving resident quality of life and elderly care. This year’s awards ceremony was held on September 26.
Holbrook, a dedicated skilled nursing facility at the Piper Shores’ lifecare retirement community, began a comprehensive memory care planning and development initiative in early 2011. As part of that initiative, Holbrook formed a memory care task force consisting of senior staff, a board member, Piper Shores’ physician and independent living residents with an interest in long-term memory care. Holbrook also adopted Virtual Dementia Tour® (VDT) in 2012 as a means of better understanding a disease that affects more than 5 million people over age 65. Created by Second Wind Dreams®, a nonprofit organization focused on aging, the VDT uses simulated psychological, emotional and physiological symptoms of dementia to provide a window into the world of someone living with the disease.
“Dementia afflicts both independent living residents at Piper Shores and nursing home residents at Holbrook, alike,” said Peggy Farrington, Piper Shores Administrator. Holbrook and Piper Shores adopted the Virtual Dementia Tour program to better understand residents living with dementia and to fulfill the Person Centered Care model at Holbrook and Piper Shores. By giving caregivers the opportunity to ‘walk in the shoes’ of a resident suffering from dementia, Holbrook caregivers and Piper Shores employees are able to better understand the unique needs of those living with dementia and to provide a more compassionate, personalized care experience. Over the past two years, 150 employees at Piper Shores have received the VDT training, as have 22 independent living residents.
In order to further their understanding of dementia and its effects on residents, Ms. Farrington and Sonya Thibeau, Piper Shores Community Heath Service Director for Independent Living, recently traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend an elite training and certification course in dementia care. Hosted by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners, the training program covered important topics such as the different types of dementia, dementia diagnoses, and strategies for communicating with dementia patients and their families. Ms. Farrington and Ms. Thibeau are among only four caregivers in Maine to be Certified Dementia Practitioners.
“Holbrook and Piper Shores are taking leadership roles in improving memory care for all of our residents,” said Jim Adamowicz, Piper Shores Chief Executive Officer. “The excellence award from the Maine Health Care Association reaffirms our strategic direction and supports our person-centered approach to care.”
MHCA’s annual Celebrating Excellence Awards Program is designed to honor the best and brightest in long term care. The Innovative Programming Award received by Holbrook at Piper Shores is given to nursing homes that have designed and implemented an outstanding program that has demonstrated success in improving resident quality of life/quality of care, enhancing employee development and relationships or engaging community members or groups in the daily life of the home.
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Second Wind Dreams® and Virtual Dementia Tour® are registered service marks of Second Wind Dreams of Marietta, GA.
About Piper Shores
Piper Shores is the only nonprofit lifecare retirement community in Maine and the first to be recognized by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC) - the nations’ only accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities. Built in 2001 in a style that complements Maine’s architectural heritage, Piper Shores is located on 138 acres of beautiful oceanfront property, situated between Higgins Beach and historic Prouts Neck in Scarborough, Maine. Piper Shores is an innovative retirement community that promotes the long-term wellbeing of its residents through a continuum of activities and lifecare services. Piper Shores’ residents enjoy active, independent lifestyles with guaranteed priority access to on-site assisted living and skilled nursing care, whenever they may need it.
Piper Shores is owned and operated independently by Maine Life Care Retirement Community, Inc., a Maine nonprofit organization, formed by a group of accomplished local individuals to deliver the shared vision of creating an ideal retirement community on the coast of Maine. For more information, visit http://www.pipershores.org or call 207-883-8700.
About Holbrook Health Center
Located on the beautiful Scarborough, Maine coast, Holbrook Health Center is the skilled nursing care component of Piper Shores, Maine’s first and only lifecare retirement community. Holbrook has consistently received a high ranking of five stars overall in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Nursing Homes. For more information, visit http://www.theholbrook.org/ or call 207-883-8700.
Ted Darling, Holbrook Health Center at Piper Shores, http://www.theholbrook.org, +1 207-671-9638, [email protected]
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