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A New Handbook
Presenting Redefining Person-Centered Care:
A Road-Map for Culture Change
I n the challenging world of long-term care, there are
always exceptional people who rise above expectations
to create a special climate of caring for frail nursing
home elders. More than ever before, dedicated staff in many
nursing homes are turning away from the institutional
status quo to seek new ways to care for their residents.
They are striving to create environments that are lifeaffirming
and dynamic, and that promote a sense of
community for both residents and staff.
With these people in mind, the Chapter is pleased
to announce the availability of a new handbook that
outlines the concepts, principles and procedures for
creating innovative, person-centered group activity
programs for nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s
disease and their staff caregivers. This new type of
program helps develop a true sense of community for
both residents and staff in long term care facilities.
The handbook is entitled Redefining Person-Centered
Care: A Road-Map for Culture Change. In clear, jargonfree
language, the important concepts and themes of
program development are identified and discussed. Each
phase of program development is described in detail.
The experience of the group program comes alive in the
quoted words of participants themselves, and in the many
photographs of residents and staff participating in group
programs. The handbook chapters are Defining Our Terms,
Developing a Person-Centered Group Program in a Facility,
Developing a Core Team, Designing a Person-Centered Group
Program, Training the Core Team and Some Advice About
Starting a Person-Centered Group Program in a Nursing Home.
The handbook was co-authored by William Senders,
CSW, recently retired manager of the Chapter’s Nursing
Home and Residential Affairs, and Anne R. Bower,
Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist at the Polisher Research
Institute of the Abramson Center for Jewish Life in North
Wales, PA. The concepts, principles and procedures presented in it are grounded in twenty years of practical
experience working with residents and staff in New York
City nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals.
And, the group program described in the handbook has
real-world benefits for residents and staff that have been
demonstrated by a decade of research on person-centered
programs. The Chapter gratefully acknowledges the
New York State Department of Health Dementia Grants
Program for its support in the research and writing of the
handbook, and the Chapter’s Junior Committee for their
support in its final production and distribution.
The group recreation program the handbook describes
exemplifies person-centered, relationship-based, culture
change values. It was written with recreation, social
services, pastoral care, nursing supervision and facility
administrators in mind, but it will be useful for anyone who
wants to offer better care to nursing home residents with
dementia. It is intended to give users a new perspective
on what dementia care can be for residents and for staff,
and to give them help in achieving that kind of care.
Please note that as a part of the grant from the NYS DOH we distributed one copy to each nursing home in New York State. Please
contact Yvette Bynoe at ybynoe@alznyc.org or 646-744-2933 to receive a copy. The handbook is free of charge; however there is a
$10.00 fee for shipping and handling. Only one copy to a customer as there is a limited supply.
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