November was National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and National Caregivers’ Month and The Bridge did its part to bring awareness by hosting two events. The first was a Service of Remembrance, honoring those we lost to Alzheimer’s and other dementias by reading their names, followed by the tolling of bell. The service was held at First Presbyterian Church on Friday, November 1, and was led by the Rev. Dr. Jim Freeman, Pastor of Broadmoor Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Dr. Carl Rhoads, member of The Bridge Board of Directors, provided the message. Dr. Holly Watson, organist at First Presbyterian Church provided the music. Over 50 names were read and over 50 people attended the service, followed by a reception. The feedback from the families was that it was special and meaningful to them and The Bridge plans to make this an annual event. To view the service, click here.
The second event was the 4th Annual Education Conference on Alzheimer’s & Dementia held on Friday, November 8th at First Methodist Church, Shreveport. Eric Portnoff, a Certified Validation Teacher, was the keynote speaker. Speaking to a full room of nearly 200 caregivers and healthcare professionals, Eric’s keynote address topic was “Delivering Compassion: Using Validation to Express our Natural Caring.” He centered around 3 main points using illustrations of nature: Connect with Your Wellspring of Caring, Identify Your Boulders, and Use Your Paddle. In the Wellspring of Caring, Portnoff helped the attendees begin a personal road map for growth with “Your Origin Story.” He shared four core Validation Principles: 1) All elderly people are unique and worthwhile 2) Disoriented elders should be accepted as they are 3) Listening with empathy builds trust and restores dignity and 4) Painful feelings that are expressed diminish; suppressed feelings grow stronger.
In Identifying Your Boulders, Portnoff identified 6 areas that can be challenging for the caregiver: 1) Questions that are hard to answer 2) Requests that are impossible to meet 3) Actions that are unsafe or cause problems 4) Resistance to necessary tools 5) Repetition 6) Our own stress, exhaustion, and “fight or flight” reactions.
In Use Your Paddle, Portnoff gave us 3 solutions: 1) Relax, by showing us one technique on how this can be done 2) Listen with empathy, including asking open questions, and most importantly 3) Validate the person’s feelings and perspective. Ways to validate include using eye contact and slowing down, paraphrasing their statement, highlighting how they are right, and reflecting their core message back as a question. Portnoff also emphasized to remember they’re the leader of the interaction; we are not.
The afternoon breakout sessions included: “Quality of Life for Residents” by Eric Portnoff; “The Three D’s: Delirium, Depression, & Dementia” by Dr. Jeff Overdyke; “Safety vs Autonomy: When to Intervene,” by Stacey Hand; “The Latest Advancements in Alzheimer’s Treatment” by Dr. Bruno Alvarez Concejo; Digital Discovers: How technology Can Enhance The Well-being of People Living with Dementia” by Eric Portnoff; “Death, Dying, & Grief” by Clint Davis; “Real Life Challenges” by Mary Strong; and “Reducing Risk in Your Home” by Jennifer Smith.
Attendee feedback was that it was difficult to choose which breakout session to attend. We are addressing this feedback by having the local breakout session speakers provide their topic for our upcoming “Workshop Wednesday” educational sessions which will be held every second Wednesday from 11 am until 12 noon at The Bridge office located at 851 Olive Street. In addition, we will be recording each session for viewing on our YouTube channel.
We will kick off 2025 with Dr. Jeff Overdyke speaking at the first Workshop Wednesday on January 8 on his topic of ”The 3 D’s: Depression, Delirium, and Dementia.”
To view the photo gallery of our 4th Annual Education Conference, click here.
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