Dear Diary, Last week I attended my first AHCA convention … (McKnight’s LTC News)

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Dear Diary, Last week I attended my first AHCA convention … There’s nothing like the first time you get to meet people, attend education sessions and see the exhibit hall at the American Health Care Association, as I found out last week. 10/5/14, 2 p.m. — … Read more

LTC Customer Service Fails topic of 10/16/14 radio show

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Tomorrow, 10/16, I’ll be a guest on “When Things Go Wrong,” the Wharton Business Radio show of professor Christian Terwiesch. The live show is 10/16 at 4pm ET and I’ll be on at 4:30pm. Professor Terwiesch will be addressing customer services issues in long-term care. They don’t provide the questions in advance so I have … Read more

Establishing rapport (an anecdote)

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“I’M THE NEW PSYCHOLOGIST,” I screamed. “DO YOU HAVE A HEARING AID?” “What?” Ms. Oakes replied. The rest of our first session went downhill from there. I stopped at the nursing station on the way off the unit. “She never wears her hearing aid,” the nurse reported. “I’ve got it right here but she refuses.” … Read more

Creative activities for residents with dementia (McKnight’s LTC News)

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Creative activities for residents with dementia Greetings from Montana! I was in Billings last week conducting a training session for the Montana Department of Health. An enthusiastic group of over 100 LTC staff members from various departments joined the discussion and I came away with some … Read more

Using Psychology to Motivate Staff: Free webinar 10/2

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Join Dr. El Thursday, October 2nd at 2pm Eastern Time (1pm Central Time) for a FREE Webinar on Using Psychology to Motivate Staff sponsored by EmLogis To register: visit EmLogis Events   Aunt Sylvia Motivates the Staff: Click here or view below: http://youtu.be/byhU_OgiIaY         About the Webinar: Create a sense of hope and … Read more

Honoring Outstanding Residents and Others

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Signature HealthCARE alerted me (via Tweet!) about their Quality of Life program where they recognize outstanding residents and others in their community. On October 9th at 6pm ET, Signature HealthCARE will simultaneously induct over 350 distinguished individuals in 87 care centers into their Hall of Fame. The Signature Hall of Fame website contains a gallery … Read more

Preventing difficult family situations (McKnight’s LTC News)

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Preventing difficult family situations I listened with great interest last week to McKnight’s Fall Expo talk on Pain relief: Dealing with difficult family and resident situations. Attorney Matthew J. Murer provided excellent information on how to work with families to prevent conflicts over treatment and other … Read more

Assisted Living Documentary by Resident Dick Weinman

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As a psychologist, I have the privilege of hearing the perspective of residents on a regular basis. For those of you who aren’t so lucky, here’s an insightful video by a resident of an assisted living facility. Dick Weinman, retired professor of broadcast communications at Oregon State University, author and former radio personality, provides a … Read more

Reducing antipsych meds: 5 ways psychologists can help (McKnight’s LTC News)

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Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Reducing antipsych meds: 5 ways psychologists can help With the mandate to reduce the use of antipsychotics, many facilities are looking for alternative methods to address the behaviors often associated with dementia. There are several good resources available for training staff (such as the Center for … Read more