People with dementia
People with dementia
Special concept for our residents
People with dementia now make up a large proportion of the residents in full inpatient facilities. Therefore, special and specific care and support concepts for this target group are important.
The GFO Center Drolshagen - Wohnen & Pflege St. Gerhardus - is conceptually oriented towards the person-centered approach of Tom Kitwood (social psychologist and gerontologist).
Central components of this approach are the basic needs of the person. These include the desire for identity, attachment, affirmation, inclusion and security. At the center of this are love and appreciation. Influenced by our Christian image of man and our Franciscan roots, we try to meet people with dementia at all times at eye level and with respect, so that they can feel safe and secure.
This attitude is expressed, among other things, in an appreciative and relationship-forming communication, which responds to the respective emotional state of the person. We thus work conceptually with integrative validation according to Nicole Richard.
Respect and dignity
"Our work is characterized by its orientation towards the Christian image of man".
The GFO mission statement begins with this sentence. Based on this foundation, important attitudes and positions are described that shape our view of people in need of care and assistance. According to Christian conviction, the human being as the image of God possesses a dignity that can never be denied. In the case of people with dementia, not only are health, well-being and performance impaired, but the person concerned also faces a reduction in his autonomy, up to and including its de facto loss. They are less and less able to make decisions for themselves and about themselves, and are increasingly dependent on the solidarity and responsibility of others.
Our task as an organization and that of all our employees is to endow the perceived dependency in which the people concerned find themselves with the highest possible degree of self-determination and to make life worth living in a dignified manner. This requires a very high level of attention and awareness.
According to Kitwood, the care of aging people with dementia is essentially about experiencing oneself as a person at all times, despite the drastic changes. The core idea here is that the relationship with the caregiver is the most important "link" for people with dementia.
Promote skills
At the GFO Center Drolshagen - Wohnen & Pflege St. Gerhardus - the care and activation offers for people with are oriented to the existing resources and abilities as well as the biography-related life themes.
The structured daily routine provides the best orientation for people with dementia. Social care in the residential group is oriented as much as possible to the life history, habits and preferences of the individual. By actively involving the residents in the daily routines, memories are awakened.
Care and action planning is created and evaluated with the inclusion of all biographical information and - if possible - with the involvement of relatives.