(Chelsea Update would like to thank Rebecca Weil for the information in this story.)
United Methodist Retirement Communities (UMRC) recently announced that Towsley Village Memory Care Center, located on its flagship Chelsea Retirement Community campus, has earned the Participating Organization recognition from Positive Approach® to Care.
Towsley Village was recognized at the Positive Approach® to Care National Conference: Dementia is a State of Mind held in Cary, NC in November 2019.
The Positive Approach® to Care (PAC), founded by Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an innovative, evidence informed, dementia education program, designed to improve the care environment through awareness, skills and competencies. This in turn will reduce stress for those with dementia and their care partners.
UMRC’s Towsley Village team members began PAC training and implementation in 2016, thanks to generous funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, as well as support from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, Chelsea Community Foundation, and the UMRC Foundation.
Currently, only four organizations nationwide have received a PAC designation. “Criteria to be a PAC Participating Organization includes PAC mentor visits to the organization and working with our team members, evidence of PAC skill use among the team, and resulting positive shifts in care for our residents living with dementia,” said Katie Garvey, OTRL, CAPS, Dementia Care Specialist at Towsley Village in a press release.
“Becoming a Participating Organization demonstrates the commitment of UMRC and the Towsley Village team to implement the PAC philosophy in order to best serve our residents living with dementia,” she said.
This sets Towsley Village apart as an aspiring model for relationship-based dementia care focused on well-being and as a resource for both family and professional care partners in our area, she said, adding, Towsley Village’s care strategies lead the way to create a dementia competent community to better serve Michiganders.
Towsley Village continues to incorporate the PAC philosophy and provide training for team members, as well as family and professional care partners in the greater region. Since 2017, Teepa Snow has conducted six community workshops in Jackson, Ann Arbor, Howell and Chelsea, Michigan, reaching over 1,300 formal and informal caregivers across the state.
Garvey also leads PAC training throughout the region as a Certified Independent PAC Trainer and Coach in educational settings, affiliated care agencies, and community settings. Approximately 300 UMRC team members across the disciplines and all three shifts have been introduced to the PAC philosophy, strategies and techniques to provide the right level of support for those who are living with dementia.
