Thank you again to all for your continued support on keeping everyone safe and doing your part not to spread the virus!!!
Be a part of the Maximum Care website!!
Contact Yenica if you have anything you would like to see in the website. Topics, suggestions, comments, all open, as long as is within our policies, procedures and to enhance education.
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Participant thought that maybe we should start our week with a joke! Take a min to enjoy the joke and if just for 30 sec laugh and forget about the stress of the day.
What did the frog say about his car?
It got toad!!!
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As a DCW, communicating with your aging parent is one of the most important skills you have. Being able to effectively communicate with participants is critical to not only helping them feel acknowledged and important but to ensure their care is exactly what they need. Understanding the concept of active listening means not just hearing what your participant says, but truly understanding what they are communicating to you and showing them that you care about them and what they say.
Some reasons active listening is important in the DCW journey include:
Elderly adults often struggle with feeling that they are less important than when they were younger, or that they don’t matter as much to the people around them. Active listening helps to dispel these feelings.
Communication styles and abilities can sometimes change when people get older. Active listening helps to make communication more effective, reducing the chances of miscommunication and empowering the participant to express themselves effectively.
Active listening helps the participant to see that they have importance and value and that you want to be the best DCW for them. Communicating actively clearly ensures you can give your participant the care they need and fulfill their wishes regarding their care and lifestyle.
When you practice active listening, you strengthen your relationship with the participant. This means you keep this bond meaningful rather than focusing completely on their care needs. A strong relationship with your participant allows you to continue making memories with the participant and showing them love and compassion rather than just thinking of your participant as a person who just needs help. We can make positive memories in their lives. Example, remembering their 90 th birthday when no one else makes a big deal. Memories is what shows us that is worth living another day to enjoy those special moments.
As DCW we have to have boundaries and need to keep in mind that it is a job however we break no rules showing that we care. Nobody wants a robot to take care of them.
Active Listening: How DCWs Can Make Communicating with Older Adults Easier
As Sherlock Holmes once said to his partner, John Watson, “You see, Watson, but you do not observe.” Even though the quote is borrowed from fiction, there’s an uncanny truth to this statement in real life. In a similar way, active listening is about processing information and utilizing it – not just randomly absorbing facts.
What does this have to do with your participant? Well, if you’re like most people providing home care, you know how easily arguments and misunderstandings can occur. But with these simple listening techniques, you can make communicating with older adults more productive.
Key Active Listening Skills
Try using the techniques below to make your communication with your participant easier and more productive:
Validate
This is often the first and most critical step in active listening. By normalizing a person’s feelings, you can push past any emotional barriers that might prevent them from speaking honestly. For instance, when you visit your participant an hour later than expected and they’re upset, you should say something like, “You have every right to be disappointed that I was late.”
Name that Emotion
At times, we all have difficulty putting our feelings into words. By helping the participant to recognize and name their emotions, you make them more manageable. Another tactic to addressing a tardiness issues is to say, “I know that you’re upset that I didn’t arrive when I said I would.”
Use “I” Statements
You’ve probably heard this one before, but it bears repeating: try to use “I” statements instead of “you” statements. The letter can often seem accusing and defensive, and using “I” statements to share your own feelings can invite the participant to do the same. For instance, using the example of being late: “I feel upset when you criticize me for not arriving at exactly six o’clock.”
Encourage
To elaborate on a problem or an emotion, the participant may feel they need implicit “permission” from you to talk about it. This permission includes subtle cues that let them know it’s okay to talk, and that you want to hear what they have to say. Try using brief prompts such as, “Go on,” “How did that make you feel?”, “Then what?”, and “Tell me more.”
Inquire
To get to the heart of a matter, you may need to ask the participant pointed questions. Examples include, “What would you have done in that situation?” and “Can you think of any alternatives?”
Rephrase
Rephrasing is another key skill in active listening. It doesn’t mean repeating precisely what the speaker just said. Instead, summarize their comments into your own words to show that you’re listening. For example, “You said my being late makes you angry. It seems like this situation causes you a lot of stress.”
Reflect
Reflecting is another form of validating the speaker’s opinion. Like rephrasing, it shows you are listening and processing the information received. “When I’m late, it seems like that throws off your plans for the entire evening.”
Summarize
Summarizing, similar to rephrasing, is a good way to make sure you understand a situation correctly. At the end of a conversation, it’s always good to check that you understand what your loved one is trying to say. Beginning statements can include phrases like, “Let me make sure I have this right,” or “So, what you’re saying is . . .”
Allow for Silence
We’re often taught that silence in a conversation is bad and to avoid it at any cost. But by allowing for silence during active listening, you open up a space for others to talk and think. Don’t be so quick to jump in with what you think the other person will say or force your own thoughts on them too soon. Silence in conversation can be one of the most important listening tactics that many DCW forget.
Redirect
This is often a big part of actively listening to older adults, who sometimes veer off topic easily. By bringing their attention back to the matter at hand, you help them focus on what’s important, such as the subject being discussed, or the problem to be resolved. Case in point: “I know you didn’t enjoy the dinner you had tonight, but let’s finish talking about my being late because I know that’s really bothering you.”
Start Communicating with Older Adults in a Whole New Way
Regularly using active listening can help you relate to the participant in a whole new way. And it isn’t just a great method for communicating with older adults – it works for almost all age groups. Who knows? By practicing this skill, you may end up having better communication with everyone you meet!
The completely customizable nature of elder care means your participant can get all the care, support, and assistance they need to manage their challenges and limitations on a regular basis. While there are many different care services a provider can offer, one of the most beneficial, and often overlooked, is companionship. Many elderly adults struggle with limitations that keep them from being as socially active as they once were, this can diminish their mental and emotional health and well-being, and reduce their quality of life. An elderly home care services provider can offer meaningful companionship including conversation, activities, outings, and more that can help the participant feel like they are relevant and heard.
Picseniorcare.com
Blog.ioaging.org
todaysgeriatricmedicine.com
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Activities:
Help us come up with creative things to do with our elderly! What do you do for your clients?
We would like the caregivers to take 20 min of their shift if possible, to do creative things with their clients. We are the first and maybe the last person our clients see in the day or even week. Loneliness is a big part of their lives. Let’s take some time to show them that we are not just personal care or home care but show them that they are not alone.
Creative Based Incentive Contest:
1. Come up with a creative and fun activity to do with your client
2. Call, text or email Yenica with the activity (610-264-2353, 484-781-4603, or yenica@lvvn.com
3. The office staff will vote
4. Winner will receive a gift card
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We have applied for the Hazard Pay!
Now the trick is Maximum Care getting approved.
We understand the hard work that everyone has done in hard times. We do not take for granted anything each and every one of you have done for our clients. We also understand that everyone deserves more for the sacrifice.
However, the information provided to everyone is not 100% all the details. The grant requires that all companies apply for the Hazard Pay. The agencies applying are not only home care but every business in Pennsylvania. There is 50 million dollars being distributed among 41,000 (+) workers throughout Pennsylvania. The requirements to receive the grant is extensive. Some agencies might get it and some may not. We have applied and waiting for either approval or non-approval.
The criteria are also very detailed on the workers that can receive the Hazard Pay. The broad description for the workers that can receive it are, for example, workers that will be working with Covid 19 clients as well as, higher risk community activities.
I hope that this can clarify a few of the questions out there! We will continue to keep you informed and make you aware of any status change regarding Hazard Pay. Like every business, we must be thankful that we are able to continue to provide jobs and service our community. Many businesses are sadly going out of business thought the country and locally.
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Announcements to assist our participants and family:
Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter
Virtual Support Groups- Aug
As we take precautions to keep all staff, volunteers and constituents safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter continues to offer
Virtual Support Groups for dementia caregivers throughout July & August.
Attendees can participate via computer or phone.
Register for a virtual support group today by calling 800-272-3900. Specialized groups are indicated. Space is limited.
Memory Café:
Is just that!!!!
Café where the participants can sit with friends, by themselves and share some memories and anything current on their mind.
You can Google Memory Café and you will get a good idea. This is a free community service that the organization Morningstar Memory Café by Senior Solutions are providing and not meant to be sales pitch.
Diagnosis is left at the door – a time for fun, a time to laugh – even if it means laughing at yourself. Mild to Moderate Dementia and their care partner.
They will have up to 25 persons – all COVID precautions taken; masks, one couple at a table, 6 ft from next table, hand sanitizers etc.
If you would like to volunteer feel free to call!
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Travel Recommendations:
The Pa Dept of Health has recommended that if anyone travels to certain states that they quarantine for 14 days. Due to the daily changes from CDC and Pa Dept. Of Health, call into Maximum Care for instructions in regards to your travel plans and the impact that it may have.
Maximum Care Inc is following the recommendations at this time. If any changes come up, we will be posting it in the website Maximumcare.online. It is your responsibility to make staffing aware if there is any client’s that will need to be covered while you are out either in quarantine or vacation.
Follow the following steps to request anytime of:
Give us as much notice as possible.
Either request “The time off request form” or your letter for time off should include the following: Name of Cl, day of service and time. State where you will be going and for how long.
Email or mail the requested time off. Take note that we must put everything in the new system, even if time passes, we need everything in writing.
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Recipes
If you have any recipe that you would like to share do not hesitate to call or email Yenica/Communications. Contact information is 610-264-2353 or yenica@lvvn.com.
The following Recipes was given by a participant. Participant and DCW is working on his cookbook. Thank you to the DCW and participant for the participation in the newsletter.
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Keystone supplying Covid-19 Care Kit!
Participants must be Keystone members. If they have either tested (+) for Covid-19, suspicion of Covid-19, or systematic but self-quarantine, participant or DCW can call Maximum Care.
The Covid-19 Care Kit will have the following:
Oral digital thermometer
Finger oximeter
Four 3/ply face mask
Hand sanitizer
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STAFFING REMINDER:
Open Work: If you go under more on the home page then click on open work tab, it will keep you posted on hours that are available at this time and the areas. Call Staffing to enquire about the open work available.
Refer a caregiver to Maximum Care Inc.:
You will receive $50 after 100 hrs worked. (At least within 2 months).
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PAYROLL REMINDER:
EVV system must be used to make sure that there is no interruptions, delays, or problem with direct deposit. In the future your pay will not be able to be processed if you are not using the system.
If your schedule changes for any reason it is your responsibility to call it in. This way we can fix any discrepancy to your schedule.
If you are having any problems with the system call into the agency.
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Compliance Reminder:
Make sure that your employment file is within compliance to continue employment with Maximum Care. Compliance is no longer waived with all the contracts. Example of things that must be up to date, all car information, CNA license, annual TB, annual physical. If any concerns or questions re: your file please contact Yenica “Jen” at 610-264-2353 or yenica@lvvn.com.
The Monitoring form must be done every shift.
If any questions please call Yenica “Jen” Muniz at 610-264-2353. The monitoring form is under the more tab and then the Covid-19 prevention & infectious control tab.
You can submit it to the office by either emailing yenica@lvvn.com or mailing them to the office.
The following dates are the conference calls:
8/12 @ 2pm A thru L, 8/13/2020 @ 2pm M thru Z
Note: This week it will be Wed and Thur due to Compliance officer being out on vacation.
9/16 @ 2pm A thru L, 9/18/2020 @ 2pm M thru Z
10/14 @ 2pm A thru L, 10/16/2020 @ 2pm M thru Z
11/11 @ 2pm A thru L, 11/13/2020 @ 2pm M thru Z
The phone number for the monthly teleconferences is 701-802-5077 with the access code of 6456087#. It will be considered long distance, please keep in mind when using landlines.
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