Supporting residents to set their own goals is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requirement. CMS regulatory tag F553 gives residents the right to participate in their care planning and be included in decisions regarding care and treatment, and tag F655 states that the facility must develop and implement a baseline care plan, with instructions, for each resident. This means that residents should have a say in setting their own goals for their care plans, determine who attends care conferences with them, decide who receives a copy of their plan, and more.
Move over, institutional care plans: If you are still writing traditional, medical, institutional care plans, and if your residents are not driving their care plans, it is time to change course, asserts industry veteran Carmen Bowman. In her audio conference for ProfEdOnDemand, “Person-Centered Care Planning: Meet and Exceed the New CMS Regulations,” Bowman covers culture change practices progressing from personalized to “I” care plans to narrative care plans. The new CMS requirements and long-standing culture change practices will support you in moving in a new direction!
Activities & The 7 Domains Of Wellbeing
One of the decisions that residents have the right to participate in is how they spend their free time. Engaging activities boost a patient’s quality of life, after all! CMS F-Tag 679 Activities states that a facility must provide an ongoing program to support residents in their choice of activities that are designed to meet their interests and support their physical, mental, and psychosocial wellbeing. The Intent of the tag goes further to explain that the program should also “incorporate the resident’s interests, hobbies and cultural preferences, and create opportunities for each resident to have a meaningful life by supporting his/her domains of wellness (security, autonomy, growth, connectedness, identity, joy and meaning).”
The Eden Alternative states, “Well-being is the path to a life worth living. It is the ultimate outcome of a human life.” In 2004, they identified these seven primary Domains of Well-Being, which together “serve as a simple framework for asking thoughtful questions that help identify the unmet needs of those we care for.” As included in F-Tag 679, The Eden Alternative details these domains further:
- Identity—being well-known; having personhood; individuality; having a history.
- Growth—development; enrichment; expanding; evolving.
- Autonomy—liberty; self-determination; choice; freedom.
- Security—freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; safety; privacy; dignity; respect.
- Connectedness—belonging; engaged; involved; connected to time, place, and nature.
- Meaning—significance; heart; hope; value; purpose; sacredness.
- Joy—happiness; pleasure; delight; contentment; enjoyment.
Increase Resident Activity Participation
Getting residents involved in activities is a fantastic way to bolster these seven domains. Unfortunately, one of the roadblocks you might face is resident resistance. You can’t assist a resident to reach their highest level of wellbeing if they don’t want to participate! Golden Carers offers a number of ways to increase activity participation, including:
- Foster friendships. Encourage friendships by identifying residents with similar personalities and character traits and sitting them side by side during activities, at meal times, or in the garden.
- Involve relatives. Include and invite relatives to participate in activities, meetings, gardening, etc., encouraging them to visit more often.
- Issue invitations. People are often moved by special invitations.
- Engage the help of volunteers. Volunteers can supervise small group activities, lead discussions groups, assist with one-on-one visits, and help to motivate residents to attend activity sessions.
- Promote exercise. Make residents aware of the benefits of gentle exercise, such as improving strength and mobility while reducing pain and anxiety.
- Initiate regular meetings for special interest groups. Regularly scheduled meetings for special interest groups are a wonderful way to build friendships.
- Make music part of their lives. Music is a simple and inexpensive way to improve wellbeing, and it reconnects people to their pasts.
Learn Best Practices For Person-Centered Care
Of course, activities are just one part of the resident’s care. Care and treatment planning is a lot to coordinate. That’s why you need strategies to help residents outline their care goals. Join Bowman and get more insight into best practices for individualized/personalized “I” care plans and narrative care plans.
