Posted: Apr 12, 2010 9:11 AM
Updated: Apr 12, 2010 10:35 AM
First Louisiana Culture Change Summit
On April 7 & 8, 2010, Baton Rouge hosted the 1st Annual Culture Change Summit for Louisiana. The conference was put on by L.E.A.D.E.R. (Louisiana Enhancing Aging With Dignity Through Empowerment and Respect), an organization that is advocating for Culture Change throughout Louisiana. Culture Change is a movement dedicated to deinstitutionalizing long-term care and refocusing the attention toward “person-centered” care. This is an international movement that is changing the future of aging. As the first organization in Louisiana to take on Culture Change with such magnitude, The Glen is a true leader in this movement. The Glen Retirement System was a main sponsor of the event.
Rhonda Beauvais, President & CEO of The Glen Retirement System, and Mike McSwain, architect of Mike McSwain Architect, presented to a packed audience in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, April 7, 2010. Their presentation on “Designing Space for Relationships, A Person-Centered Approach”, took attendees on the journey of assessing the institutional tendencies of today’s nursing homes through the complete transformation of the environmental and organizational design of Village Health Care, The Glen’s skilled-nursing community (nursing home).
Maureen Kidd, Therapy Dog Coordinator, represented The Glen Retirement System at a second presentation that highlighted the Glen-Zadeck Canine Comrades and their program “Pawsing to Heal”. The Glen-Zadeck Canine Comrades have long been a part of The Glen’s community outreach program, but have recently, over the past two years, developed a program in collaboration with The Glen’s rehabilitation department in Village Health Care. “Pawsing to Heal” has been an incredibly successful program in which a certified team, consisting of a handler and therapy dog, work under the direction of an occupational or physical therapist to help a resident achieve specific goals. This presentation also garnered great interest from the audience and built on The Glen’s presence as an innovative and progressive organization in the landscape of nursing home care in Louisiana.