(ST. JOSEPH) – Hospice at Home, A Lakeland HealthCare Affiliate, won a Silver Award in the Innovative Programming category in the 2012 Innovative & Exemplary Respite Care Awards Programs Serving Persons with Dementia. The award recognizes Hospice at Home’s Respite Services and Community Outreach for People with Dementia for interactive programming with patients using Benevolent Touch and Sensory Stimulation. The award was given by the Michigan Dementia Coalition’s Caregiver Support Workgroup.
Community groups and agencies, academics from various Michigan universities, state government representatives, and consumers work together as the Michigan Dementia Coalition. The group’s purpose is to improve the quality of life of persons with dementia and their families in Michigan.
The Michigan Dementia Coalition, the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging, Michigan Adult Day Services Association, and the Michigan Alzheimer’s Association chapters solicited nominations for the 2012 awards, which were conferred at the October 16 meeting of the Michigan Dementia Coalition in Howell, Michigan.
The nomination process is an outgrowth of the goal of the Michigan Dementia Plan to increase support for family members and other non-professionals who provide care for persons with dementia at home. The awards program serves to recognize and disseminate information about model programs across Michigan in order to encourage replication and stimulate further creative programming. An estimated 260,000 individuals in Michigan have dementia, and over 75% are cared for in their homes.
Photo: (L-R) Kunga Nyima Drotos, Hospice Social Worker, Hospice at Home; and Claudia Mierau, Massage Therapist, Hospice at Home. Mierau teaches Benevolent Touch Community Workshops and Drotos developed and leads a Sensory Stimulation Group at local facilities for Hospice at Home patients as well as residents of those facilities.
