February, 2011

Cooperation between St. Leonard and Nursing Institute bears fruit

Dr. Govind Bharwani and his daughter Meena in the Behavior-Based Ergonomics Resource Center

               “St. Leonard is committed to excellent care for seniors and supports any research which can improve their quality of life,” said Tim Dressman, executive director of the St. Leonard Franciscan Living Community. “Improving dementia care is one of our core strategies, and we want to be on the cutting edge of anything that’s going to benefit our residents.”
            “Cutting edge” perfectly describes the work that has grown out of the collaboration between St. Leonard and the Nursing Institute of West Central Ohio. Dr. Govind Bharwani is the Director of Nursing Ergonomics and Alzheimer Care at the Nursing Institute and Co-Director of Ergonomics in the College of Engineering, Wright State University. In conjunction with the St. Leonard Franciscan Living Community, Dr. Bharwani has developed a potentially groundbreaking system for supporting the cognitive and emotional well-being of Alzheimer sufferers. Dr. Bharwani’s system, called Behavior Based Ergonomic Therapies (BBET), has drawn national attention and has won several prestigious grants and awards.
            “I’m very excited that Dr. Bharwani’s work has turned out to be significant, not only for our residents, but for the rest of the world,” Dressman (photo at right) said.
            St. Leonard is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania. It is situated on 240 acres in Centerville and is home to about 700 residents living in a variety of settings from cottages to a skilled nursing facility, and it includes an 18-bed Alzheimer unit for residents affected by the disease. Alzheimer's is a brain disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 70 percent of dementia cases.
            The Nursing Institute was founded in 2004 as a collaborative effort among local organizations to shape the future of nursing and nursing education in the region, and Tim Dressman is a member of the Institute’s Advisory Council. It is through this involvement that St. Leonard became a site for deploying the Alzheimer care concepts. Dr. Bharwani and his daughter Meena Bharwani, a local independent consultant, studied Alzheimer care in a number of institutions and found a lack of customized activities to help the residents with Alzheimer’s. The Bharwanis developed a system that can be used by caregivers to help their patients to ease their boredom, stimulate their minds and reinforce their memories. The St. Leonard Foundation has provided a $15,000 grant to support Alzheimer’s research projects. Tim Dressman said, “We are encouraged by the success of the BBET approach for our residents with Alzheimer and dementia. This methodology has shown significant potential as a non-pharmacological alternative for residents and has been embraced by our staff. It will have a profound impact on home-based caregivers in our community as well.”

Dr. Bharwani employs an "intervention" with a St. Leonard resident

Using the Bharwanis’ system, the staff at St. Leonard customized a set of music, video and stimulating therapies to use with each resident as that person becomes bored and disengaged. For each resident a “memory prop box” was set up with family photos and other comforting items. The therapies consisted of music CDs, video programs on DVDs and simple puzzles and games. The Bharwanis and the St. Leonard staff conducted an assessment for each resident and chose a set of interventions which were customized for each resident. The key to Behavior Based Ergonomic Therapies is that the system provides the caregivers with a set of easily implemented interventions that are based on the personalities, cognitive abilities and preferences of individual residents.
          Results from the initial tests were very encouraging, and the work has received numerous accolades as Dr. Bharwani has reported on the research in Alzheimer’s forums across the country. For example, the AMDA Foundation/Pfizer Quality Improvement Selection Committee awarded the Nursing Institute a $15,000 grant for Dr. Bharwani to continue his work. Also the project at St. Leonard is the winner of the national Dorland Health Silver Crown Award in the Alzheimer’s Care category.
           “We at the Nursing Institute are extremely proud of what Dr. Bharwani and Meena Bharwani have accomplished, and we foresee significant benefits for persons with Alzheimer’s in the future,” said Debi Sampsel, executive director of the Nursing Institute. “None of this could have been possible without the active participation of St. Leonard. Tim Dressman, his administrative team, and the direct care staff have been willing to collaborate with Dr. Bharwani and help give him useful feedback to continue to evolve this care delivery system. Together, their teamwork has improved the lives of the people they serve. St. Leonard’s mission and the embracement of it by the Bharwanis has resulted in the advancements of person-centered Alzheimer care. St. Leonard’s foresight and commitment as our partner is invaluable.”