Dementia care excellence in practice

As dementia care can be so overwhelming, we are often asked ‘How can we use My Dementia Companion (MyDC) to deliver quality care in practice and existing workflows?’.

We now have a wonderful article to help illustrate this, which was featured in ACCPA’s Aged Care Today Magazine in partnership with our customer, Astley Care. We thank both organisations for raising awareness for quality care.

Note, MyDC is simple to implement saves staff time and stress, improves care and helps to meet Quality Standards (incl. new Strengthened Standards). Contact us if you would like to learn more.

Short summary

• Compliance scrutiny on dementia care is increasing and the barrier to quality care is the gap between training and practice for staff

• You can improve the intake process and how they respond to questions from families by using MyDC’s world-first comprehensive dementia journey, and associated search and share feature

• MyDC’s Care Pan feature simplifies person-centred care planning by acting as a ‘cheat sheet’ to prompt staff on questions to ask and solutions to implement.

• Staff activities within MyDC are naturally recorded to save time, evidence care provided, and meet compliance requirements.

The full article

You can read the full article from ACCPA website here (Page 79 or 41 PDF), or below:

Dementia care excellence in practice

A partnership between Astley Care and My Dementia Companion

Introduction

Dementia is the second most common cause of death in Australia, impacting half a million Australians and 1.5 million caregivers, and is growing rapidly as our population ages. This highlights the urgent need for enhanced dementia care within the sector.

Astley Care is dedicated to enabling clients to lead fulfilling and independent lives in the comfort of their own homes, having made significant investments in workforce education and training.

Bridging the gap between training and practice

As indicated by the Royal Commission findings and the new Draft Aged Care Quality Standards, implementing effective dementia care demands tangible solutions that bridge the divide between training and day-to-day practice.

At Astley Care, we believe that attaining dementia care excellence means our staff deliver best practice care as part of their daily care, while receiving coaching beyond the training room.

We tackled this challenge through our innovative partnership with My Dementia Companion (MyDC).

Untangling the dementia journey to support intake and questions from families

Being a client-centric organisation, the intake process is crucial in establishing initial connections with clients and understanding their needs.

The ongoing relationship is strengthened as we address new questions and changing needs. Challenges arise with the intricate and complex nature of dementia, and the fact that the workforce often lacks a clinical background.

To bridge this care gap, we adopted My Dementia Companion’s world-first comprehensive dementia journey, integrated as part of the MyDC PRO app.

The PRO app allows our staff to quickly create a unique dementia map for each client to plan and guide them through their care. The app enables quick search for care strategies solutions when issues arise, ensuring timely and practical support.

Streamlining care planning

Developing comprehensive care plans is fundamental for quality care and regulatory compliance, yet it can be complex and time-intensive.

This arises from the wide-ranging nature of dementia care, making it challenging to incorporate various permutations of recommendations into standardised care plan templates.

Creating prompts to facilitate structured discussions across all care domains is highly beneficial, exemplified by the PRO app’s Care Plan feature. For instance, when addressing daily living, prompts can guide discussions and provide solutions on topics like establishing routines, cooking safety, memory challenges and aids, as well as implementing accessible wayfinding signages, among other considerations. This approach ensures a structured and consistent framework for our staff.

Effective documentation and evidencing care

Documenting care can be a challenge, particularly when our primary focus is on delivering care. The PRO app allows us to offer personalised care solutions with only three clicks, while creating a comprehensive record of these actions.

These records serve as tangible evidence of the care provided, particularly for the additional efforts we put forth under the Dementia and Cognition Supplement.

Furthermore, the distinctive client journey map generated in the app promotes smooth collaboration among our team members.

It also helps our responses to clients and their families are professional, thorough, consistent, and of the highest quality

MyDC PRO as an industry tool

Streamlining workflows is crucial, especially in dementia care given its inherent complexity and the vulnerability of our clients.

We encourage our peers in the aged services industry to consider practical support measures for their staff.

You can begin by embracing the dementia journey concept, or alternatively develop your own tools to provide guidance and prompts for your team.

For those interested in MyDC PRO, contact My Dementia Companion to empower your workforce in achieving excellence in dementia care.

Laura O’Reilly, General Manager and Katie Stuart, Care Coordinator, Astley Care

Nan Yu, CEO/founder, My Dementia Companion www.astleycare.com.au; www. mydementiacompanion.com.au