How can we say thank you for this summer of learning?  Open Circle Adult Day of Apple Valley, Heritage Park, and Hopkins along with Elim Oasis Adult Day of Princeton, and Buffalo Adult Day Center in Buffalo gathered with Positive Approach to Care mentors for three days of skills training and the most current dementia education available.  A grant from MN Department of Health Home And Community Based Scholarship Program and generous donations from Adult Day friends and families, made this education possible.  The central concept of Positive Approaches to Care is to see our actions and care giving from the point of view of a person with dementia. Each of us took our turn to be assisted with meal time, approached for cares without understood introductions, to realize and experience the language and visual losses that can make the world of dementia terrifying.  After one exercise a staff member said, “I feel so bad, I never knew.”
               
We want to thank: all our generous donors for making this possible, Laura Herman from Open Circle in Hopkins for assembling materials, keeping us on track with homework, event planning, and support services, Patty Ryan and the Heritage Park Staff for offering site support and training in making coffee, The Cora McCorvey Center for providing a great learning venue, Gail Skoglund for grant writing and planning with Teepa Snow’s team, Anoka Tech and  Julie Grivna for providing fill in staff so others could learn.

We can be less afraid of living in a world with dementia because of Positive Approach to Care.  Until dementia is a thing of the past, this gives us hope for quality of life.  We have always emotionally walked beside our members but now we know how to physically walk beside.