New Training, Standards Helps Simpson Put Wellness At Center Of Memory Care Program 

With new training and standards and accreditation through a program prioritizing wellness for people living with cognitive changes, nonprofit senior living provider Simpson Senior Services is starting a new chapter in memory care.

Developed by Arizona-based senior living provider Beatitudes Campus, Comfort Matters is a research-based memory care model focusing on well-being, emotional comfort and non-pharmacological interventions. The accreditation has been awarded to fewer than 43 senior living communities, with Simpson’s recent accreditation coming as the first provider in Pennsylvania to receive the designation, according to Simpson CEO Carol McKinley.

Philadelphia-based Simpson, which operates three continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) and three affordable senior living properties, shifted its memory care program from a traditional, behavior-focused model to one that reframed principles around comfort, emotional management and person-centered clinical care, McKinley told Senior Housing News.

As part of the accreditation, Simpson changed language and terminology around memory care and implemented new training and operational standards. For example, rather than referring to resident adverse reactions as behaviors, the program reframed memory care residents as exhibiting “distress” as “people with difficulty thinking,” McKinley said.

“It makes you look at things differently than just assigning someone with dementia or in a catch-all way,” McKinley said. “The language we use is: ‘what is causing that person distress, and how can we help support them to feel comfortable or feel better?'”

The accreditation process took two years to complete following extensive education and coaching through weekly and biweekly coaching sessions with Comfort Matter staff, McKinley added.

Following the accreditation, Simpson staff, spanning all departments in operations, now receive training based on Comfort Matters standards in memory care, along with receiving annual training sessions. Including housekeeping, culinary and maintenance staff in updated memory care training is vital in improving operations and supporting the new program, McKinley said.

The result of bringing staff beyond clinical teams into the program helped improve staff confidence in serving those experiencing cognitive decline. For example, if a housekeeper that makes routine contact with Simpson memory care residents is now better-equipped to connect with residents or inform care teams of residents in distress.

“It reduced the fear of working in memory care,” McKinley said. “We’re invested in staying accredited because every voice counts.”

Part of the program also focuses on getting to know the residents in memory care to “understand their world” and then plan for ways to support their quality of life, McKinley added.

Simpson also analyzes data to provide quicker clinical interventions, monitor changes in condition or conduct a new health assessment. The program also emphasizes nonpharmacological interventions where possible in memory care.

Simpson staff are trained to assess pain and how to provide basic comforts for residents in distress before turning to medications for help. The process aims to identify unmet emotional or physical needs of those in memory care, McKinley said.

To improve memory care as a sector, McKinley said senior living providers must move beyond infantilizing older adults experiencing cognitive change and dementia, or rushing to use medical interventions for older adults in distress.

“You have to look at residents as people and not as patients or simply in a disease process,” McKinley said. “We’re not treating a disease here; we’re treating people, making sure they’re living out their lives with quality and dignity.”

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