Our Dementia Specialist Care
Our unique model is a tribute to all the Residents we have had the privilege to care for – they have been our best teachers!
We have developed our dementia model by combining over 30 years of experience with comprehensive professional training from world experts in the field of dementia, extensive research, and by selecting some of the best practices found worldwide. Our staff team is handpicked to deliver exceptional specialised dementia care to our Residents and Day Guests.
We aim to create moments of joy for every Resident each day or night. We make a difference in the well-being of our Residents by making each day count. Our thoughtful and gentle care interventions and therapies are woven into their day to reduce anxiety and agitation. We place each Resident's unique and individual needs at the centre of our interventions and provide good old-fashioned Tender Loving Care.
Our dementia model
Dementia is chronic and progressive. It causes brain changes at every stage. We focus on what abilities remain. We get to know the person living with dementia and use a unique thoughtful approach to communicate as well as ignite familiar motor skills. At this moment we do not have the science to cure dementia but we can certainly use our experience, training and skills to make an impact on the daily lives of people living with dementia so that they become joyful, comfortable and content.
Our model:
- assess fully all factors that affect the person
- identify individual abilities, care needs and non-medical approach
- apply interventions and therapies throughout the person’s day and night
- ease anxiety and encourage well-being, create joyful moments
- regularly assess and review
Resulting in a more secure, comfortable, content and joyful person living well with dementia.
Our Dementia Specialist Care includes some of the following interventions
Each person’s dementia is as unique as he or she is. We have developed thoughtful interventions and techniques to focus on retained abilities and promote our Residents’ well-being while decreasing their anxiety and agitation.
Our approach includes:
- regular assessments regarding physical and emotional needs
- one-on-one interpersonal therapy and TLC to promote well-being
- personalised music and memory programme - which can be effective, as music has an emotional connection and is one of the last memories to go
- gentle reality orientation (if and when appropriate)
- redirection therapy
- validation therapy
- integrative therapies based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and energy therapy
- purposeful activities to promote confidence and well-being
- memory care activities for fun and entertainment
- reminiscence therapy (“This Is Your Life” books) to promote confidence, well-being and a sense of self
- massage and aromatherapy as powerful media to heighten the senses of smell and touch, thus stimulating a feeling of well-being
- living in the Resident’s reality
- daily outings
- additional nutritional supplements such as coconut oil
- awareness, education and support for family members
And of course, our care includes a lot of patient Tender Loving Care as we truly want to make a difference!
Peter likes to help out and Rusty enjoys baking - these are examples of purposeful activities.
Barbara is setting the table - this is an example of a purposeful activity.
RESPONSIVE OR CONFOUNDING BEHAVIOURS COMMON IN VARIOUS STAGES OF DEMENTIA
People living with dementia often cannot express what he or she is feeling or experiencing in the manner they used to or that we are expecting. Things often change from one day to the next. The person living with dementia is not pretending or being purposefully difficult, they are actually doing the best that they can. Dementia has robbed them of the ability to communicate and process information in the way they used to. Our job is to decipher what they are trying to communicate through this behaviour. We have to find out what has triggered the behaviour and learn how to communicate with them.
Responsive or confounding behaviours we continue to have success with, by our thoughtful approaches...
- Aggression (physical and verbal) - includes spitting, pinching, kicking, scratching and biting
- Agitation
- Anxious behaviours
- Calling out continually
- Delusions, false beliefs
- Emotional fluctuations
- Forgetfulness
- Hallucinations
- Hoarding
- Hiding possessions
- Inappropriate sexual behaviours
- Misperceptions
- Not wanting to bathe, dress, eat etc
- Paranoid behaviour
- Repetitive actions
- Repetitive verbalisation - this includes asking same question over and over again
- Resistance
- Screaming
- Shadowing
- Sundowning
- Wandering or pacing
- Wanting to ‘go home’, ‘go out’
Our stories...
A thank you letter from Ted’s niece Anne
“Trying to find a suitable care home for a loved one is not easy; it can take many months of painstaking searching and until it was suggested to me that the time had come when we should be considering a residential care home for my Uncle...”
Director Annar Mangalji talks about dementia Specialist Care
Finding a suitable care home for your loved one is a difficult and agonising journey. We have over 30 years of experience in dementia care and would like to help. Hear Annar Mangalji, Director of Devonshire Dementia Care Home and Day Centre, talk about our Dementia Specialist Care.
Residents’ family and advocates Meetings
Residents' Advocates Meetings with Senior Management are held four times a year. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss any issues and concerns as well as brainstorm ideas. Occasionally we bring in speakers such as medical specialists to talk about dementia, advance care planning and end of life care, and solicitors to talk about Power of Attorney for finance and health care.
Sign up for our newsletter: