Brian and Jennifer Perruccio, co-owners of HomeChoice Home Care Solutions, attended the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Educating America Tour: Concepts in Care Educational Conference in Durham, NC on September 20, 2017.
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is celebrating 15 years of providing support and services to people with Alzheimer’s, their family members and professional caregivers. The AFA provides a help hotline (866-232-8484) to anyone needing information regarding caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. The AFA also provides memory screenings, support groups, dementia care training, research funding, public policy, professional development, and so much more in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
Brian enjoyed hearing Jean Makesh, CEO of The Lantern, speak about different therapeutic care modules that have been successful in his assisted living facilities for people with Alzheimer’s. Jean spoke about using exercises that were developed for people with autism with a particularly challenging resident. Brian said, “I really liked Jean’s “think outside the box” strategies of using other therapies that have been developed for other neurological disorders for the care of Alzheimer’s patients.”
Pictured: HomeChoice Home Care owner Brian Perruccio with Charles Fuschillo, Jr., President & CEO, Alzheimer’s Foundation of America
Jennifer found that Karen Stobbe, Chief Purpose Officer of In the Moment, had innovative yet practical tools for caregivers to use to help each person living with Alzheimer’s live their best life. Karen talked about listening fully and acknowledging the emotional content of the person with Alzheimer’s communication. Jennifer said, “I found that the scripts Karen suggested such as saying “Yes and…” to acknowledge what someone has said yet move them to another thought or saying “I see you’re feeling sad (or whatever emotion the person is showing). I understand. I am sorry. What can I do for you?” as a way to acknowledge emotions and to find out what could help. These scripts are great to use in situations that could be stressful for the caregiver and person with Alzheimer’s.”
Jennifer and Brian are always looking for ways to improve the level of care they bring to their clients and their families. Brian said, “I am looking forward to incorporating the strategies we learned about today into our care plans for our clients.”
AFA continues their Educating America Tour on September 26, 2017 at the Melville Marriott in Long Island, NY. For more information on HomeChoice Home Care Solutions visit www.homechoicehomecare.com. For more information on the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America visit www.alzfdn.org.
