"Positive Dementia Care" (David Sheard)

[davide]

My father's care home has introduced a strategy to improve their dementia care based on principles from David Sheard's "Positive Dementia Care" approach, in which the managers have been trained.

I had an overview of this yesterday from the care home manager. I only know limited details so far, but it sounded positive, and I am pleased that they are doing something active to improve dementia care.

Wondered if other members have experience of this at their care homes, and has it made a difference?

Thanks.

 

[Grannie G]

Hello David

I don`t know if anyone at my husband`s home bases their care on what they have read, but I see positive behaviour every day from all the carers, towards all the residents.

 

[geum123]

Davide,
I saw David Sheard on the television.
I thought he was inspirational.

If only more homes were prepared to adopt his approach.....

Regards,

Geum.
xxx

 

[Jancis]

I would love to know more about David Sheard, can anyone point me to more info? I found the Dementia Care Matters website, are there articles on the AZ website?

 

[JPG1]

I don`t know if anyone at my husband`s home bases their care on what they have read, but I see positive behaviour every day from all the carers, towards all the residents.

I am quite comfortable to declare that I am a fan of David Sheard.

I can see where you're coming from, davide, and thanks for posting about it.

You're not talking about what anyone may have read, but about the strategy that may have been seen to work, and to which they've been introduced.

A lot of the things that David Sheard cares about can be found here: http://www.dementiacarematters.com/ for anyone who might want to read up on how much he really cares about dementia matters.

He and his staff have turned around many dementia care homes form abysmal to positively 'aware of dementia matters'. From neglect to care. What more could anyone ask for?

It's what we're all working towards: positively constructive and caring dementia care.

Thanks, davide, for your reminder.

 

[geum123]

David Sheard featured as the dementia care consultant on BBC Dementia care 'failing the elderly.
featuring Gerry Robinson.

There's a little video clip of him on the page below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8399760.stm

 

[danny]

I invited David Sheard to do a presentation at the official opening of our day centre.

He spent the day with us and inspired everyone that was here.

Of course his services are not free but he gave us a generous discount because we were a new service with no income,we weren`t aware of this until we received our invoice,so not only is he a huge advocate for improving dementia care he is a lovely,genuine person as well.

 

[Sandy]

David Sheard has also written a series of books called 'Feelings Matter Most' which are published by and available from the Alzheimer's Society as a pack or singly:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/retail_product_browse.php?categoryID=2&productID=126

 

[danny]

Sandy, I have that series of books and I cannot praise them enough.

 

[Jo1958]

Davide, hi
I have read David Sheard's book and thought it was very good and if care homes are taking his view on board then that is great news.

I do find on a one to one basis with hubby at home that it would be very hard to concentrate 100% on making the dementia sufferer totally happy and their peace of mind always the main concern a wee bit difficult as we both have to live and survive but with paid carers I think if is a wonderful approach to caring.

I will be very interested to hear how you find this working in practice and look forward to your future posts as you learn and see more of how it works day to day.

Take care of yourself, best wishes, Jo

 

[davide]

Thanks for the comments.

I think my dad's care home was already pretty good in this respect, in that the EMI unit is quite new and well designed, and already has a lot of features designed to help with stimulation or orientation, and the staff seem very good. But I was pleased to hear they are trying to improve the care.

The way it was explained to me is this. Say a resident asks for something slightly unusual, like to have a piece of toast when they have just had breakfast.

"Negative care" would be to just say No, or to say "No, you have just had breakfast". "Neutral care" would be to say yes and get them the toast but to have no more interaction. Both of these are discouraged. "Positive care" would be to say yes but to have a bit more interaction, like saying "Yes, would you like to come and help me get it" or to sit and have a brief chat with them. This seems good, although it seems like it may be a bit more demanding for the staff (at least at first).

Thanks for the link to the BBC article. Some of the things mentioned there are also going to be tried at my dad's care home, like removing some of the barriers between staff and residents, removing staff uniforms, getting staff to eat with the residents, etc. to make it feel more like a "home" environment. I think some of these are a bit less popular with some of the staff but are going to be tried.

I would be interested to read a book by David Sheard, but the £85 is a bit expensive unfortunately - guess those are aimed more at professionals.

 

[Jo1958]

Davide, hi
If you want to read his books then I would visit your public library and if they don't have them on the shelf then they can order it for you. That's what I did and there were quite a few other books on dementia that they ordered in sequence, I wasn't chased to finish any of them quickly and renewed them several times as it took me a while to get through them.
I think it also helped the staff to understand why hubby's behaviour had changed.
Good luck, best wishes, Jo

 

[Sandy]

I would be interested to read a book by David Sheard, but the £85 is a bit expensive unfortunately - guess those are aimed more at professionals.

It looks like the single books cost £20 each and the first one in the series is Being:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/retail_product_browse.php?productID=86

Take care,

 

[ianpm]

Diploma In Dementia Care

I have just commenced on a Diploma in Dementia Care it is something Ive wanted to do since watching Gerry Robinson fixes Dementia Care. This documentary hit me where it hurts and I was saddened by what I saw. But then inspired by the results achieved by David Sheard. I am now looking at the services I provide and my first act is to include This 2 hr documentary to my next training session. I have already started some work by doing themed corridors and adding Dementia Signposting to the home. I am excited by the fact I am doing the course and hope I can get staff and relatives on side.