THUNDER BAY - From not wearing uniforms to sharing a cup of tea, the Butterfly Approach to care now being implemented at the Pioneer Ridge Long-Term Care home seeks to create a person-centred model of care for residents living with dementia.
“I am excited. I am really excited,” said Judy Walters, behavioural support and Butterfly lead at Pioneer Ridge. “I know this has been a long journey for us to get to this day today. I feel person centred care is what this is all about and this is where we are going and this is going to be a real home for our residents.”
The Butterfly Approach to dementia care was developed by Meaningful Care Matters based in the United Kingdom.
Meaningful Care Matters defines the Butterfly approach as: “a truly person-centred approach where people are free to be themselves. It values emotional intelligence, domestic household living, and the core belief that everyone living with dementia has a unique story which has meaning and matters.”
Walters said in 2007, Pioneer Ridge knew the task medical model of care was not best suited to the residents and it started looking for alternatives.
“We started researching several models of care and we found the Butterfly Approach through Meaningful Care Matters was best suited for us,” she said.
“It’s about the routines and honouring the life story of each individual of what they want so we can be more creative the way we are going about the resident’s routine each day.”
The Butterfly Approach to care focusses on an emotional connection with residents, which can be achieved by staff engaging with them on a personal level, sharing stories, not wearing uniforms to eliminate any kind of divide, and embracing the realities of the residents.
Training on the new model is already underway and Walters said staff will be completing workshops led by Meaningful Care Matters throughout the next 18 months.
The Butterfly Approach will first be implemented in Home Area One, which is a secure area for 38 residents, most of whom are living with dementia.
“The hope is this will spread and that one day we will be able to branch it out into the whole home,” Walters said. “But right now, we feel the people living with dementia is where we need to start with to give them opportunities for a better quality of life.”
Alison Denton, manager of northwest regional senior care program with St. Joseph’s Care Group, hopes the Butterfly Approach will be adopted by other long-term care homes throughout the region.
“I think other long-term care homes in the region will be supportive of the journey that Pioneer Ridge has begun and will absolutely be seeking more information as they consider changes to their approach to care in long term care homes,” she said.
Walters added that no additional staff are being brought on as part of the change and she acknowledged there have been concerns raised about the amount of time it currently takes staff just to complete their care tasks.
“It is a whole philosophy of care. It is a change, it is a process,” Walters said. “When you stop hearing people saying I have no time to do the Butterfly right now, it will probably be around six months when people realize they are doing it. It’s just a way of changing the way we do things to be more person centred. It can be moments.”
“When the environment has changed and it’s more homey, people will start to notice and staff will start to notice residents are actually happier and feeling better. They are going to respond to the environment. There will be time, even just a few minutes, if it’s sitting with them while they are having their meal to make the meal more meaningful.”
