After working hard to start a business where you are running a home for the elderly who want to live in a safe place where help is offered to them, you may want to consider obtaining a dementia-friendly business certification. If you receive this certification, you can provide dementia services to elderly individuals who suffer from this diagnosis. As you plan on accommodating elderly people with different needs, you want to make sure you are not alienating those with dementia who could use the support that you are willing to offer at your elderly living facility. Before you can obtain the certification for your new business, there are some essential steps you must take.
Work on Training the People Who Will Work at Your Facility
You have likely already started the hiring process for your elderly facility because you want to have caring and highly skilled professionals working for you. After choosing who to hire, you must provide dementia training to these individuals. The training will help them understand how to communicate and assist those with dementia. You cannot receive the certification unless most of your staff members have received the training. The training covers a lot of useful information that employees must know, such as the following:
- Common behaviors of those diagnosed with dementia
- Enriching activities that benefit patients with dementia
- Tips on properly communicating with these patients, especially on days when the elderly individuals are struggling more than usual
- Proper protocol to follow
If your team members are properly trained, you may avoid running into issues involving improper care between employees and patients with dementia. It is a way to prepare your employees for what they may come across and deal with while they are at work.
Take the Time to Create a Safe Space for Those With Dementia
You need to prove that your facility is a safe place to live for those with dementia. As you may already know, dementia patients can unintentionally injure themselves in different ways and at any given moment. They may trip over something in the hallway, fall on the ground, find themselves lost while randomly walking around the building, or even burn themselves while they are attempting to use the faucet. You need to make sure you have a way to handle these issues that you and your employees might face. Many businesses that provide services to dementia patients will go out of their way to do the following things to create a safer environment:
- Install safety bars throughout the building and inside all the rooms
- Place an anti-scald device on the faucets to prevent any burn injuries from occurring
- Add exterior door locks to keep the patients from exiting on their own when they should not do so because they are a danger to themselves
- Offer a call service button that allows patients to quickly call for help as soon as they need it
- Use non-slip mats throughout the property
If you can make your building a lot safer for people with dementia, you have a far better chance of quickly getting the certification and becoming an accredited dementia-friendly business.
With plans to open the front doors of your elderly care home in the coming weeks, now is the best time to get a dementia-friendly business certification. When you have this type of certification, you can accept patients with dementia into your facility and provide them with a comfortable and safe environment to live in. You must first go through the process of training most of your employees on how to work with dementia patients and then make sure your building has all the necessary safety features before you can receive the dementia-friendly business certification.
To learn more, contact a company that offers dementia-friendly business certification services.
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