Imagine the challenges of completing simple daily activities without the ability to think, remember or reason. Button your shirt, count correct change, reconnect with an old friend: tasks we take for granted that are almost impossible for someone living with Dementia. In September Magnolia Gardens Care Centre invited 25 seniors care industry leaders and civic leaders to experience what Dementia feels like for those they serve and represent by through the Virtual Dementia Tour® (VDT).
“It is a transformative and enlightening experience,” says Shannon Ediger with the Fraser Health Authority. Shannon participated in her hour-long tour with a colleague, two leaders from the
Alzheimer’s Society of BC, and the owner of Comfort Keepers, a private in-home care company.
After the initial interactive component, Shannon joined the others for a debrief session delivered by Magnolia team leaders. “The insight [from the tour] allows me to truly understand the dignity and pride that can be lost through the way caregivers react to people with dementia,” she reflects. “It reminds me that we can take an approach to care that maintains and enhances a person’s dignity.’
The VTD is an evidence-based experiential training program that builds a greater understanding of dementia by temporarily altering participants physical and sensory abilities. Developed by P.K. Beville, a geriatric specialist and founder of Second Wind Dreams, the tour gives caregivers, family, first responders, and health care providers a first-hand experience of the challenges of living with dementia.
For Angie Quaale, a Township of Langley Councillor the experience hit close to home as she reflected on her grandmother’s final years living with dementia “What an incredibly valuable experience this was. I have a new found appreciation for the caregivers and the medical team that took care of her; they are saints.”
Bria’s team leaders are among a handful of trained VDT facilitators in Canada, and in 2018 the management team made the tour a mandatory training experience for all Bria staff. Director of Care for the Magnolia Gardens Care Centre, Sue Wilson sees the impact of the training daily. “I have definitely noticed how staff members have changed their practices and interactions with residents. The multi-sensory experience leaves staff with a brand new understanding of what our residents struggle with every day.”
Seeing the impact the tour had on staff inspired Bria leaders to open the opportunity to others in the community who would benefit from a window into the world of dementia. The guest list included Sylvia Cardin, an RN who works with the not-for-profit Langley Seniors Resource Society, “Participating in the tour humbled me after 32 years working in geriatrics,” she commented afterwards. “It forever changed how I will communicate, interact with an empathise with peoples’ journey through this disease.”
Response to the tour was overwhelmingly positive, and in the days following requests came in for additional training opportunities. This fall the Bria team will train the Langley Division of Family practice staff and physicians, and training days for volunteers from not-for-profit profit organisations like Meals on Wheels Langley will begin in January 2019.
“The Virtual Dementia Tour is such a unique resource,” says Tanya Snow, Director of Bria Communities. “We want to offer it to our colleagues in the community so their teams can benefit. Experience tells us that empathy is essential for anyone working with seniors, we’re committed to investing in it!”
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