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Healthcare Change Makers


Jun 26, 2018

Today, your host Ellen Gardner, Communications and Marketing at HIROC, speaks with Sherry Janzen, CEO of Salem Home in Winkler, Manitoba.

Salem Home sits in a rural part of Manitoba but their innovative Relationship-Centred Model of Care has attracted international attention. Sherry discovered her affinity for older people early in her career and at the urging of her father, studied gerontology at Wichita State University. A defining characteristic of Sherry’s leadership at Salem Home, where she has been CEO since 2004, is coaxing staff to ask why things are done a certain way and to give new approaches a chance. A key priority for Sherry and her leadership team is ensuring staff receive specialized training in managing the home’s high numbers of residents living with dementia and Alzheimer’s. It’s been ten years since Salem implemented the Relationship-Centred Model of Care and as it continues to evolve, Sherry is proud of the fact at this point they don’t just talk about the culture, they live it.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:48] How Sherry got her start in healthcare

[2:11] What made Sherry question traditional approaches to providing care in a nursing home

[4:33] How changes in the mission, vision and model of care at Salem have resulted in fewer falls, a drop in medication usage, and happier residents.

[6:48] How Salem Home ensures that staff are able to interact with and manage the high numbers of residents with responsive behaviours

[8:13] What kind of adjustments were made to the physical environment as part of the adoption of DementiAbility: The Montessori Way™.

[10:30] How Relationship-Centred Care has evolved since it was introduced ten years ago

[11:27] Why Salem Home went to decentralized dining in the mid-90s and adopted the SuzyQ Model of Meal Service

[13:33] How growing up on a dairy and grain farm with supportive parents taught Sherry there were no limits to what a girl could accomplish

[15:49] How 216 volunteers, churches, and community organizations play an active role in the delivery of services and programs at Salem

[18:26] Salem encourages a culture of mentoring because it takes people a long time to really understand the Relationship-Centred Model of Care

[19:11] Sherry’s advice for new grads

 

Mentioned in this Episode:

DementiAbility Methods: The Montessori Way

Salem Home

SuzyQ Model of Meal Service

 

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