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Email Story to a Friend July 4, 2006 Caregivers should honor our routines What's your morning ritual? Think about this carefully because I'd like your answer to be specific. Do you have coffee right after awakening? Do you brush your teeth before your coffee? Is the coffee decaf or regular? Morning rituals are intimate and individual. I'm a morning coffee drinker. If I found myself in a living situation where coffee was served no earlier than noon and my shower was replaced with a twice-weekly bath, I would not handle that well. I would definitely resent and resist those changes. I've been thinking about the importance of morning rituals since attending a presentation by Diana White with the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence. Her co-presenter and many of the attendees at this presentation were resident-care technicians at the Rogue Valley Manor. Not that there were that many attendees. Unbelievably, there were only about a dozen people in the room, and the majority seemed to already understand and practice the concept under discussion. Here we are in an area exploding with aging adults and a well-regarded expert, someone who's studied the intricacies of residential transitions for aging adults, comes to town ... and where is everybody? Sorry you couldn't be there. This was stuff worth hearing. Advertisement Dr. White and her co-presenter talked about "person-centered care." It's an incredibly simple concept. Let's say your mom's dependency increases and she moves into your home. Or maybe your aging spouse's needs become so significant that he or she requires a nursing care environment on a full-time basis. If and when that happens, there are a two important questions to ask: "What's your morning ritual?" and "What's a 'good' day for you?" For someone who's lived alone successfully and independently for all of his or her adult life, this information can be pivotal. For example, what if you have always eaten oatmeal or bran cereal in the morning, and it's not an option in your new residence? Think about that. In living situations using person-centered or person-directed approaches, caregivers acquire detail about the individual's preferences through active listening and respectful queries. They try to do it on the first day of the new placement by sitting down and just talking. And once they've talked — mostly listened, actually — these caregivers, family or facility, make every attempt to honor the requests made and the preferences identified. If a good day means a shower every morning, even though that's sometimes hard to pull off in a congregate care environment, every effort is made to allow that to happen. As for me, this is what I want. When I'm 88, I want "person-centered everything." My favorite term is "joyful compassionate care." I want caregivers who really try to get to know me and understand my morning routines, and more "good days" than bad. Each of the people attending this presentation on person-directed care was asked to make a detailed list of their own morning rituals. I made my list. It's long. I'm putting it into safekeeping — I see it as a potentially useful reference into the future. As for you ... have a good day. Sharon Johnson is an associate professor in health and human services at Oregon State University and on the faculty of the OSU Extension. E-mail her at [email protected] or call 776-7371, Ext. 210. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Casino Reviews Advertisement s Advertisement