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Redefining Dementia
resources and helpful life experiences, the podcast will look to connect with the audience to provide helpful and meaningful takeaways.
Redefining Dementia
Shelley Shillington: Empowering Dementia Care with Meaningful Engagement
Join us as we uncover the heart of meaningful engagement in dementia care with Shelley Shillington, Senior Consultant and Trainer at Person Centred Universe. With 35 years in long-term care, including senior management, Shelley has dedicated her career to person-centred approaches and sustainable transformation in dementia care. Hosts Jana Jones and Ashley King explore Shelley’s journey, from a Physical Education graduate with a passion for elder care to becoming a recognized leader who chairs the Alzheimer Society of New Brunswick and serves on the national board of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
In this insightful conversation, Shelley shares her expertise in creating authentic connections through personalized engagement, transforming everyday activities like sharing a cup of tea into moments that honor individuality and dignity. With practical advice for both professional and family care partners, Shelley also highlights strategies for combating caregiver burnout and integrating mindfulness and resilience into caregiving routines. Discover how small celebrations, reminiscence, and compassionate care foster a culture of choice and personhood in dementia care. This episode offers a compassionate, practical vision of what dementia care can and should be—a space for dignity, joy, and meaningful connection.
About our Hosts:
https://www.personcentreduniverse.com/about/
Welcome to Season 2 of Redefining Dementia. I'm Jana Jones and I am thrilled to be joined by my co-hosts, daphne Noonan and Ashley King for another season of fresh conversations, new insights and valuable tips on navigating dementia care.
Speaker 2:Hi, I'm Daphne. This season, we're diving even deeper into topics that matter, from caregiver resilience to meaningful engagement. Plus, we'll have a fantastic lineup of experts to share their wisdom.
Speaker 3:And I'm Ashley At Person Centred Universe. We help you provide person-centered dementia care at home, work or in your community. Through this podcast, our goal is really to strive toward a better world for those affected by dementia by sharing resources and insights from experts around the world.
Speaker 1:We are also introducing a new format this season with rotating co-hosts. You'll hear from each of us as we take turns leading discussions with incredible guests, some familiar faces and some exciting new voices.
Speaker 2:So, before we begin, just a special note the information that we share in this podcast is for educational purposes only. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of dementia, we'd encourage you to seek medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
Speaker 3:So don't forget to hit that subscribe button and join us every other Thursday as we explore the many dimensions of dementia care. One conversation at a time.
Speaker 1:We are thrilled to be back with season two of the Redefining Dementia podcast, and we couldn't be more pleased to have our friend and colleague, shelly Shillington as our very first guest for this season. Shelly has been a crucial member of the Person-Centered Universe team and is widely recognized for her expertise in meaningful engagement, especially with older adults living with dementia. With over two decades of experience in dementia care and long-term care settings, shelley has also served as a past chair and president of the Alzheimer's Society of New Brunswick and currently represents New Brunswick on the Alzheimer's Society of Canada board. In her work with Person Centered Universe, shelly continues to develop and educate others on person-centered programs that prioritize meaningful engagement and ensuring older adults and those living with dementia can lead enriched and connected lives.
Speaker 1:In today's episode, shelly will share her journey into dementia care, along with her insights and experiences in therapeutic recreation and her ongoing work at PCU. We are so excited to bring her knowledge and passion to all of you, so let's dive in with Shelly Shillington. Welcome, shelly Shillington. Thank you so much for joining us today. My pleasure, looking forward to it. I know that those of us on the Person-Centered Universe team have had a wonderful opportunity to get to know you and work with you over the past many years and I almost feel like you are our best kept secret in terms of meaningful engagement, because you are one of the best people to talk about this topic, so I'm so excited to share your expertise with our listeners. Thank you for saying that that's wonderful.
Speaker 5:I do appreciate those comments. It's nice to be a part of the Person-Centered Universe team, for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, we're excited to share you with everyone. So, just to jump in, I would love for you to share with us a little bit about your background and what brought you into the world of working with older adults and specifically to dementia care.
Speaker 5:Sure, I'd love to share. So I always had a connection with serving individuals in the community in a capacity that was somewhat like an education-led type of activity and for me, at a young age I guess it was leadership through sport. So I was always very actively engaged in sport and it led me to work in municipal recreation. So I was able to work with youth and elders, seniors in the community through recreation and leisure programs municipally and through my studies at University of New Brunswick I took on a Bachelor of Phys Ed and through my elective programs I started to dive into learning more about at then it was titled Special, special populations.
Speaker 5:So as we started to build upon different courses, introductory courses and move towards more focused programs, I really enjoyed working with the elderly and the aged and from there I very quickly shifted and focused my attention to therapeutic recreation and for me I was successful in getting a practical program with a local nursing home in the Fredericton area and started to get that exposure to that life for our elders in the community and sought out professionally after I graduated to work in the field.
Speaker 5:So from there, once in a long term care facility, a nursing home, welcome to a 70 bed facility in the St John area, I was able to really explore what recreation therapy was for this community and practice what we could do to support individuals living in long-term care, to develop programs for them to meet their needs, and from there very quickly saw that our dementia population was somewhat isolated from the norm, if you will individuals elders that may be living in the population base of the nursing home, but maybe more physical challenges versus cognitive impairments and that didn't sit well with me because the goal is, of course, to offer recreational leisure for all. So, quite frankly, I started to do a fair bit more research in dementia care and believed in proposing that and building it through my facility and education to the others that live there, along with the staff and I, ideally identifying programs that would meet the needs of that population as well through recreation and, of course, meaningful engagement.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Shelley. That is such an amazing evolution that your career has taken, and I know that it even goes beyond what you've shared with us already in your background. Also so interesting that you sort of started out working with a younger population and found your love of working with older adults, and I feel like many of us in the field of aging care sort of started in a similar way. We all many of us had an idea of what we wanted to do and then we stumbled upon gerontology or the field of aging in some way and just fell in love, and obviously that's how it happened for you.
Speaker 5:I agree. And then it just opens your world and you recognize that really when you're talking about building programs for individuals, it's not really the age that matters, it's the personhood and identity. And from there it opened up the whole world of therapeutic recreation in long-term care. So it was a wonderful journey for me, for 35 years and different roles, different facilities and specifically working with dementia. It was a powerful, powerful journey.
Speaker 3:Well and I think you're being humble, shelley, because you very much were a trailblazer, and especially for those of us in New Brunswick, around meaningful engagement moving from, you know, the bingo, the birthday parties and the ball toss and really focusing at that deeper level of how do we maintain someone's personhood. So you know, I think you've done so much work and you've really moved us as a province forward in how we look at dementia, specifically dementia care, but other areas of focus as it relates to recreation as well, and how do we make it more meaningful and person-centered for our clients. So I'm going to move on to our next question and your work really focuses, as we've been talking about and as I just kind of shared, your work really focuses on meaningful engagement for people living with dementia. Could you define what meaningful engagement looks like to you and why it's so important?
Speaker 5:Oh, I'd love to. So when we think of meaningful engagement, we're talking about active participation right from the individual who has a diagnosis specifically today speaking to dementia a diagnosis and the connection, the connection from that individual. So it can involve individuals or it can involve groups in an interesting way, but it's very respectful, very authentic and can be very impactful because it allows for open dialogue, open communication and exchange of ideas. So, really, for the meaningful engagement often results in focusing and getting a deeper understanding and building on relationships with an, which is our workplace setting. It's constantly evolving and the meaningful engagement can come from simple moments in time, but it is about getting to know your client, your residents and building from there. So when we think of that meaningful engagement, the other little piece that comes to mind for me, Ashley, is what's the difference between that and an organized activity? And for me it primarily lies into the participation piece.
Speaker 5:And when you think of meaningful engagement, it's about genuine connection and interaction. So you're talking about participation from an individual at an emotional or intellectual level, leading them to that sense of purpose because they are familiar with what the activity is. And with that intent, that open communication fosters good communication and, again, encourages that active listening from you as the professional and observing what your resident or client showing you and then the experiences, personal growth and understanding of the participant. So it's very can be very simple where with an organized activity it's typically structured, planned event or a task with specific objectives, outcomes, schedule, that type of thing and the participation. Again you're focusing on a certain client base that's coming in.
Speaker 5:They could be passive very much that we can see from a dementia individual but it's a fulfilling role rather than engaging deeply with the experience, and the outcome, of course, is completing a task right or achieving what the goal is when you are planning for an activity. So when? So really in essence, when we talk about organized activities, they can be a part of the meaningful engagement, but it's not always an actual organized that activity that leads us to the connection or the impactful experience. When we take that meaningful moment in time and engage, your priority as the professional for a quality interaction. So being mindful that it's just being an observer, a good listener and showing your client, your resident, that you are open to, to being with them and listening and making that moment in time important to them.
Speaker 3:That's such a wonderful explanation and I think you really dove deep into. Thank you, I guess I would say, for diving deep into what is the difference between activities and structured activity versus meaningful engagement. And you know, I think what we've had the opportunity to see in practice is that meaningful engagement is really part of someone's goals of care about engaging them, ensuring that they maintain that identity, and would you also say that it doesn't only need to be facilitated by, you know, recreation professionals or activity professionals?
Speaker 5:Absolutely so. Quite frankly, we do hear that a lot and when I'm asked to speak to this topic I do share a fair bit of knowledge on that from experience and share that really it's not just the activity department's role and you need the support of everyone, including your day-to-day colleagues and frontline staff. But when it comes to meaningful engagement, it's appreciating that. Any contact with your client resident that can be made into a meaningful moment of time and, to be quite frank, as simple as sitting down and taking two minutes to talk about the coffee that you just provided that resident by stating what's in it, talking about the china cup or the teacup if it's a teacup and saucer, it's specifically paying attention because I know from my relationship building with a certain resident how important it is relationship building with a certain resident, how important it is, and I always jokingly share for my mother-in-law you always poured milk into the teacup first before you added the tea, because that's the way the queen did it.
Speaker 1:Shelly, one thing I love so much about you is that you have such a talent for looking at a situation that may seem like it's a challenge for someone living with dementia and their care partner and finding a practical solution for those moments and how to help, and on the podcast, we love to be able to share practical tips and resources and solutions as much as we can, so I'd love for you to share your thoughts on how can care partners create more meaningful moments with their loved ones living with dementia.
Speaker 5:Well, that is a great question. So, as a caregiver, we do the best we can each and every day, like it isn't our goal to go to work and not work with our clients and residents. It's to provide them with quality of life and enhance their journey in any way possible from the day to day tasks that we, as the caregiver, are required to do and for our residents and each day it is set forth for them. So when we're creating meaningful moments as a caregiver, we're focusing on that quality of life, like we are for all the other tasks. But the big thing is strengthening that relationship. And when we think of that and we come and approach those meaningful engagement moments day to day, we need to think about the simple things like being present. Right, focus your attention on the person you're caring for. Put your phone away, don't be looking at the TV, turn down the radios, like. Give them your full attention so that you in turn are listening actively. Another tip so it encourages conversation. It might mean a one word answer or it might be a nonverbal from your resident, but you're still actively listening and therefore you show interest in their thoughts, their feelings and you validate their emotions. So then you focus as well on personalizing the activities. So when you tailor experiences to their interests and preferences, whether it's listening to their favorite music not putting on the CHSJ channel when you know she was in the symphony, but putting that on instead of just putting on noise or reading a beloved book repeatedly, or doing a simple little task or hobby that they like not what you like. And, number four, always think of reminiscence as a back pocket idea. It's something that we, as caregivers, could all learn more about, and that's the quick engagement conversations about their past, really using what's in their room or you know photos, or even when you're walking in, we think about the fall and we think about the color colors, and we know that our clients from a certain area talking about what that means and that fosters connection and engaging those meaningful activities so that it has purpose, so that you know you're you're making sure, if you're going out into the garden and you have a gardener that maybe you're going to stop and, um, pick off a couple of tomatoes or in, and then what could we do with these. Or if it is craft, what is it that we're going to focus our attention on? Maybe they love to crochet. They may not be able to crochet anymore, but could they roll the skein of yarn into a ball while we start to work on a little project and have visuals of a croquet patch?
Speaker 5:Creating those rituals will be so important each day, each week, like your morning, coffees, walks, and those types of things are so important in fostering those relationships. And that moves to practicing yourself as a caregiver mindfulness you're paying attention to what's happening in front of you and focusing on what you're doing with that resident and you can pass that on to them. One of the things I do daily with my dad when I go to see him and not that he is cognitively impaired, but breathing is important for my dad. So creating moments to say deeper breaths, like just normal types of conversations, ideas that create the relationship and keep fostering more and more contact and celebrate the small wins, that's a tip right Acknowledge and celebrate activities no matter how small, that will boost your morale and it creates positive moments for you and you can share with your colleagues and give them ideas.
Speaker 5:The other last two tips I would say is use touch. If your client resident is open to that. Simple gestures like holding hands or a gentle back rub or conveying love and support in a way that's important and that means even a smile is very important to the human connection. And always involve others, invite family friends to join in different things and lead by example and show them how these meaningful engagement moments in time are so enriching in the day-to-day experience. So when you focus on simple little tips, you cultivate that meaningful moment and then overall you're enhancing well-being and the deepened connection and that relationship that you're creating and continue to foster and sustain with your client.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, shelley. Those are wonderful tips and I do have a follow-up question for you on that. I love how you weaved in the idea of rituals and meaningful engagement and my question would be on behalf of the. You know we have listeners who are caring for loved ones in the community, at their home, but also those who have transitioned into care, and I wondered how can we transition those rituals and those special meaningful moments once a person is living in organized long-term care?
Speaker 5:So again, open communication from the family and friends of the individual with the team and once as we are family and friends and connecting and getting to know the environment, the new home of the individual, we can start to connect and foster those relationships as well and encourage and support that. These are important things, that are those rituals that are very important to your loved one as you introduce them to their new home, and consistent communication. Sometimes you might think you need to say it once and it should be remembered. It's a large staff and, as you can appreciate in this time of our province and as we know and listen and learn more, we're constantly welcoming new staff and training and onboarding, and these staff only want to learn from family and friends and co workers so that they as well can be better and focus on their job. So, being mindful that it's okay to repeat yourself, just a friendly reminder.
Speaker 5:I remember when my uncle Jack moved into the facility and we I was carrying supporting him a little bit at home and my uncle Jack did not like margarine and when his meal would come out and for a few times there was always margarine and I would have to say no, no butter, and I'd repeat myself and even though it was on his daily diet plan, it was there and if he had to have a tray for one reason or another, someone wasn't taking the time to just pay attention to it. But I didn't mind that and it was okay. Just remember, he doesn't like margarine, it's butter. That's what's important to him and over time it was clear, communicated and suddenly there was never margarine at his table, a side plate. It was always butter. So you know the simple little things taking these rituals, communicating the value, the importance of them, and that respectful communication to the team, as the adjustment and transition for your loved one is beginning and it doesn't happen overnight continues to grow.
Speaker 3:And that's it, Brunswick, but then across Canada, and I know, with partners that we have in the US, those formal care settings are pretty consistently seeing dynamic staff teams and so I really like that comment about reminding, maybe reiterating, some of what's important to you know, your loved one. It doesn't mean that they, you know, don't care. It's just oftentimes there is staffing changes and changes to departments. So I think and you've so you've touched on the next question that we're going to answer, but I think I think that there is opportunity to go deeper with this question and you really touched on some challenges or some barriers to being able to effectively implement or for care partners to consider what barriers may come into play or what barriers may be in place as it relates to achieving meaningful engagement or implementing meaningful engagement. So how would you suggest overcoming barriers or challenges to implementing or really understanding meaningful engagement for whether it be family members or for care partners in informal settings?
Speaker 5:You're absolutely right, ashley. Sometimes we get overwhelmed with the task at hand. We face it head on. We know we have a busy day. There could be whatever happening at a particular hour within your shift, a day, week, that's happening on your house or even at home, from our residents' residents and families perspective. So care partners often face challenges and sometimes it's more than a few, can be several in the run of a shift and when it comes to facilitating meaningful engagement, there are obstacles that you need to be mindful of, and then you can come up with responses to that or plans, as we talked a little bit earlier when I was talking about some of the tips, when we're thinking about creating them.
Speaker 5:But I totally appreciate that there's time constraints. So, balancing your caregiving with work and your responsibilities as well from your personal responsibilities, sometimes your mind's not focused on those meaningful interactions. So, being mindful that, that's okay, but checking that, going back to check that right, being mindful that, okay, I've got this busy day today, but how much can I deliver if I was required to, and be realistic, and also know that emotional stress sometimes can be a burden of the caregiver and if you don't watch it, you can lead to burnout. So then what ends up happening is it makes it difficult for engaging positively so and be fully present, because you are focused on something and you're not even in control of it. So it's okay to recognize that our time constraints can lead to some things, and then our own personal lives, but we have to learn to balance that. So communication barriers are also one that I, when I was getting ready for a presentation, at one point I recognized, like physical or cognitive impairments in the care of the recipient. Sometimes they can hinder that effective communication. So it can be challenging. So, therefore, coming up with ways of, I always like to say, when I walk onto a dementia house or working specifically with one client, I'm walking onto a theater production, a drama play, if you will, and sometimes I'm the lead in this meaningful, engaged activity. And sometimes I'm the lead in this meaningful, engaged activity and sometimes I'm just the bystander, because our residents going in a total different direction. So there's something up, and sometimes we just need to stand back and they aren't communicating by words, they're communicating by behaviors and with that it's my job to stand back and go okay, yeah, this bath isn't going to work right now For one reason or another. I need to pay attention and see what's happening, because my client or resident or family member can't tell me.
Speaker 5:There's also the lack of resources and the challenges of today and not to use that certainly as an excuse. You can come up with other plans Appreciating. Yes, there is a lack of resources, so, but how can we look at opportunities for engagement by family coming in or community support, different opportunities even for individuals that are at home with their loved one? What are we really truly looking at all the opportunities and going out and asking for the support we might need? And when it comes to our facilities, are we talking to each other to really talk about how we can deliver the same care when we do have a lack of someone's called in sick? Well, what's the plan when someone calls in sick, how are we delivering the care flawlessly or not that anyone else needs to know that we're working short? How can we do these things?
Speaker 5:So, also, when we think of other challenges, sometimes too, like one of the things I always like to share, I always enjoy cribbage. I grew up with the game card game and crib board all my life in my family and my grandparents home, and then, as I started to work specifically on a dementia house, cribbage was one game that a fair number of the residents I had the pleasure of working with could carry on with. But I'll tell you I soon wasn't enjoying cribbage anymore because I was playing it so much. So sometimes I might shift my. I don't want to do a cribbage game, I have a different interest in mind. But I used to have to stop and take pause and say it isn't about me, it's about the resident, the client, and really observing what their interests and preferences were. So you can resonate and find something at a balance. And as they progress down the journey of dimension, maybe can't remember how to count the cards, or they can't remember how to move the pegs or even where they get to. They can't really play a hand. They can still sort cards into suits and just have the cribbage board there for them to visualize like just different interests, being mindful that that can challenge us to fatigue, being mindful yourself that it can be physically and emotionally exhausting. So being taking check and being mindful that, okay, I'm off today and it's okay. I need to voice that and clearly find my plan and my way forward today and it's okay.
Speaker 5:And then care partners who feel isolated like social isolation, when you think about some of our caregivers in the community that they themselves may not be social creatures and they're trying to facilitate and affect their loved one's day-to-day quality of life and they themselves are trying to find their own meaningful experiences. We need to be mindful that that as well can be a challenge for a caregiver and they have to find their balance as well when caring for their loved ones. The other one for care partners is fear of overstepping. Sometimes we worry about infringing on independence and autonomy of the individual that we're caring for and then it leads to us in a hesitance of meaningful engagement. So, being mindful, we really do need to know the client because we don't want to infringe and overstep and changing needs as the care's condition evolves. Those are the things that we need to be mindful of so that we can adapt our activities and maintain the meaningful engagements.
Speaker 5:That can be challenging. And the other big one which I understand can be challenging is limited knowledge, like lack of training and understanding and appreciation and how to create those leads to uncertainty. Some of our staff just don't know what they should be doing. And if we talk to them and say, well, create more meaningful engagement practices. Well, what does that mean? So, by addressing the challenges often it requires support, education and flexibility and it can create and sustain that meaningful engagement and the care partner feels supported. And then success, because they'll have positive outcomes when they see how our residents and our clients and family members are receiving. You know the work we're doing, but being mindful and being realistic that there are challenges and it's okay to face them.
Speaker 3:That's just such valuable insight, shelley, and I think your experience both working in long-term care organizations, but then also experience working with families at home, with your own family members it all leads to such valuable insights as to what some of those barriers can be when attempting to implement meaningful engagement. I think you know from what I can tell it's more about just getting the courage and trying things. You know that you know somebody likes and attempting, you know, to improve quality of life and uphold personhood. So thank you for those very meaningful insights.
Speaker 1:Shally, I think that I learned something, many new things, from you every time I speak with you and I really, after listening to you, through this last little while that we've had to share with you, through this last little while that we've had to share with you, I feel like I wish every care partner and every person living with dementia had a Shelly Shillington by their side, and I can't believe we are at the end of our time together, but I wanted to wrap up by asking you this final question that we ask every podcast guest, which is what is your hope for the future for people affected by dementia?
Speaker 5:Wow, what a great question. And after all the good questions and for me preparing for today, I thought what a great opportunity for me to share a little bit about overall, the purpose and value that I've placed on my career. And then, looking into the future and what could it mean? Well, you know, if all caregivers dedicated time to just enhancing a little bit towards their day to day for quality of life for individuals with dementia, really the future could see significant improvements in both well being and with those living with dementia, overall caring experiences. It's just simple. It can be, and sometimes, as we talked about that last question, like when we think about getting ready and planning how to deal with some of those challenges, being mindful of that it's okay to, you know, focus on getting support and improving. You know, set goals and explore resources and practice your own self-care and what have you. But ultimately, the outcome, what could it look like if we were to do that? I think of the emotional well-being of our residents, clients and family when we do that. It could lead to reduced anxiety, reduced depression and agitation and it fosters a sense of happiness and fulfillment. It can actually enhance cognitive function as well. So, you know, just an appreciation of these we call activities of daily living, adls, but even IADLs the instrumental activities of daily living. Adls, but even IADLs the instrumental activities of daily living where there's a design and there's a cognitive ability that we can go around and focus attention to and enhance that function by creating meaningful moments and engagement, by leading to overall functioning by simple little shifts, those stronger relationships that we've talked about, greater sense of purpose, and then overall there's a supportive network because as the frontline care partner and the family, we come together to share these best practices and resources and that fosters a strong network and then that in itself can isolate caregiver excuse me, it can reduce the isolation of the caregiver and support our resident and family of an individual so that we can focus on their preferences and needs and the care practices so that it's unique and we identify with the individual who has dementia and what they need, versus us trying to fit them into our day-to-day task. And it can be challenging and we know it can lead to lots of challenges, but you can get there with the support and therefore it'll reduce caregiver burnout right. It's that quality engagement, the experience has greater satisfaction to our frontline staff, their leading role to care for our loved ones and our residents. Then they have a reduction of stress and burnout because they're seeing the positive outcomes of this and given permission. Given permission to recognize and identify with the resident to support what they need in their day to day.
Speaker 5:So then it falls into like innovative, innovative ideas and approaches what's your home look like? What's the facility, if it's a long term care, small or large? How do you you know, culturally shift that quality of life and inspire different things, like bringing in new ideas and making time for that and supporting these ideas and not looking at it as another oh, it's something else. I got to do More like wow, that's going to enhance the day-to-day. Then it's a positive social change, to be quite frank. It's there's greater awareness and understanding.
Speaker 5:And then the dementia it can lead to more inclusive communities and that's ideal for the future in so many more aspects than just with dementia care. So when that starts to happen, it's more, it's more well, the outcome's more positive. But then you see better policy and perhaps more funding right in the right areas. Not that the funding isn't necessary in a lot of ways to some of the areas we know we struggle with, like frontline care, hours of care etc. But when we increase advocacy for dementia care in the right way that the outlook can look as a result with those improved policies, then the support's there for caregivers and those living with dementia. So I guess overall a future with caregivers priorizing quality of life for individuals with dementia. Dementia could create a more compassionate, supportive, enriching environment and overall that just benefits everyone involved. Equals person-centered care delivery. Hallelujah.
Speaker 3:Hallelujah. Thank you so much, Shelley, for joining us. Uh, you are our very first podcast guest for season two, so thank you for joining us and your willingness to share your valuable insights. I just wanted to take a moment to to identify a couple of key takeaways that I have and things that have caused me to think deeper based on our conversation today. And I think the first piece really relates to the importance of that shift towards and policy change that needs to happen to focus beyond that medical model of care for people living with dementia. So moving beyond providing the medications, going to the doctor, and really looking at how do we maintain somebody's strengths, their capabilities, maintain their quality of life and what they love to do, big and small, for as long as possible, because that will be critical to their success and their well-being.
Speaker 3:And then you know, I think you've provided our listeners a really good opportunity to really have a deeper understanding of how meaningful engagement isn't just about activities and you know, capital R recreation. It's about taking that individualized approach, applying a person-centered focus and a person-centered lens and upholding an individual's personhood as well as their individuality, and really just being flexible, trying things, attempting new things. Sometimes it's about allowing ourselves to not always have the best answer and allowing ourselves to try and be flexible as it relates to dementia care and what happens one day may not work for the next day, but it'll work two days again from there and so being able to adapt and use meaningful engagement as a meaningful tool. And then the other thing I just wanted to point out was you know how you.
Speaker 3:What that really resonated with me was how you focused and put so much emphasis on being intentional with your meaningful engagement with the most mundane things. You know. You use the reference of the teacup and how you can have a full conversation focused on reminiscence, just on a simple teacup, and how important that is and how engaging that is for the individual and whether it be your loved one or somebody you care for in a formal care setting. And then, lastly, I just want to thank you because you really demonstrated how everyone can do meaningful engagement. Everyone can provide meaningful engagement. You don't need to be a recreation therapist, you don't need to work in long-term care, you don't need to be a nurse. Everybody has tools in their toolkit that can apply meaningful engagement. So thank you.
Speaker 5:My pleasure. Thank you for having me, and I appreciate the opportunity to share. I never professed to be an expert, but I do love to share my experiences and for me, it is about sharing experiences with your co-workers, the family, the friends. That truly is about being person-centered because we share. We share the knowledge and improvement continuously for the clients that we care for and the loved ones that we are trying to enhance their day to day as they go through this dementia journey. Thank you both.
Speaker 3:Awesome Thanks, Shelley. Have a wonderful day and we really appreciate you coming and joining us.
Speaker 4:Thank you all for tuning into today's episode.
Speaker 4:It's been an absolute pleasure to feature Shelley Shillington, someone we've had the honour of knowing and being mentored by throughout our careers.
Speaker 4:She's truly a trailblazer in the field of meaningful engagement and recreation for older adults. Shelley's deep commitment to providing meaning and engagement, particularly for those living with dementia, has had a profound impact on so many lives, and we're thrilled we could share her expertise with all of you. You can tell from her enthusiasm, as well as her wealth of knowledge, that Shelly's passion for creating connections and her dedication to ensuring that everyone, no matter their cognitive abilities, has access to enriching experiences and how it truly embodies what we strive for in person-centered care. We hope you found this conversation as insightful and as inspiring as we did. Shelley's practical methods for applying meaningful engagement can easily be adopted by you, our listeners, for anyone, be it someone living at home or living in formalized care settings. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on any more conversations with amazing guests like Shelley. Thank you again for listening and we'll see you next time on the Redefining Dementia podcast.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Redefining Dementia podcast. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the redefining dementia podcast. We hope the insights shared today leave you feeling empowered and connected, no matter where you are on the dementia journey, whether you are living with dementia or you are a care partner, a professional or an advocate. Together we can continue shifting the conversation.
Speaker 4:This season. We're grateful for the opportunity to bring you new voices and perspectives. As always, we strive to offer practical tips and heartfelt stories that resonate with your experience.
Speaker 2:A huge thank you to our incredible guests who generously share their time and knowledge with us, and to everyone behind the scenes. Our music is written and produced by Scott Holmes, and this podcast was produced by Jana Jones. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss our upcoming episodes. And, as always, let's keep redefining dementia together.
