Hawaii Island caregivers and community organizations spent a recent Monday developing skills to better understand and care for people living with dementia.
Utilizing her own personal and professional experiences, Teepa Snow founded the Positive Approach to Care program to change the norm for dementia care culture around the world.
The program guides caregivers, family members, friends and volunteers through different methods to effectively care for and understand people living with neurocognitive degeneration, most commonly known as dementia.
“There is a lack of awareness, knowledge and skill in dementia care, and you don’t know what you don’t know,” Snow said. “When you start to see their perspective and learn more about the disease itself, you understand them more, and it changes the whole dynamic of your interactions.”
Snow has spent 45 years developing Positive Approach to Care, or PAC, and offering education in both theory and practical techniques, so people can thrive as a caregiver.
Through funding from the Hawaii Community Foundation, six people from Hawaii Island Adult Care’s staff are training to become PAC-certified trainers, coaches or engagement leaders.
“Our education method gives participants a greater set of skills to make a difference for the people in their own communities,” Snow said. “Our goal with PAC is to empower folks, so they can empower others.”
The 1.5- to 2-year intensive courses will equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to teach the program to the rest of the HIAC staff.
According to HIAC Executive Director Andrea Wernli, the entire staff is learning skills from PAC through online courses as they can all implement better care for those living with dementia as soon as possible.
“The training takes a while, but the skills are practical and can be applied as you go,” Wernli said. “Our kupuna population is rising, and there is still very little understanding of dementia, so we are working to become the first PAC-certified training facility on the Big Island.”
After they finish their curriculum, HIAC will have two PAC-certified trainers, two PAC-certified coaches and two PAC-certified engagement leaders who will share their knowledge with HIAC staff, caregivers and community organizations.
“I anticipate that training in PAC will help alleviate stress or frustration that comes when caring for someone with brain change,” Wernli said. “Understanding the perspective of someone with dementia will help caregivers provide better care.
“We want to be better as a team,” she said. “As the only adult day care on the island, we should be experts in our field.”
Before traveling to Oahu for an in-person training session, Snow and fellow trainers Melanie Bunn and Jami Myers stopped in Hilo to teach a class of 43 some basic skills and knowledge from the Positive Approach to Care.
Through the use of role-play and interactive education, participants learned more about what someone with dementia experiences day-to-day and what actions and reactions will help create a more positive experience for both parties.
“(Teepa Snow) is one of the leading educators in dementia care, and we were so excited and honored to learn from her in person,” Wernli said. “One day of training and learning some simple skills helped us all better understand the mental and physiological perspective of a person living with dementia.”
Melissa Amador, an HIAC care partner and certified nursing assistant, already used a new skill from PAC to help redirect someone with neurocognitive degeneration while working at the facility on Tuesday.
“It was a remarkable and special day. I never thought I’d be able to learn from Teepa in-person,” Amador said. “These skills, I mean they really work to make things simpler and easier. I’m already applying all I’ve learned so far.”
Individual caregivers and representatives from Community First, HIAC Caregiver Council, Hawaii Public Health Institute, HIAC Board of Directors, Bayada and Hawaii Care Choices also attended the training to learn the basics of PAC.
“Teepa coming to (HIAC) brought people together for this important training and it was such a gift,” Wernli said. “Hawaii’s high life expectancy and growing kupuna population emphasizes our community’s need to collaborate to better understand dementia and educate our caregivers.”
While understanding and properly caring for people living with neurocognitive degeneration is necessary because of the rising number of cases each year, Snow reiterated the importance of caregivers’ health and well-being.
“You can’t take care of someone if you can’t take care of yourself, and it’s so important to recognize how vital you are in the equation,” Snow said. “Building a community of people who understand dementia gives people a bigger family to lean on when they need help, because everyone is willing to work together.”
Free resources about the Positive Approach to Care, such as courses, videos, written materials and lines of communication with trainers, are available at teepasnow.com.
HIAC provides attentive care during the work day, interactive weekly events, and opportunities for socialization for kupuna and adults with challenges.
For more information, visit hawaiiislandadultcare.org.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
