Walk with Me 2016 Conference
Par Family Councils Ontario
Last week’s Walk with Me 2016 Conference was Canada’s second national conference on culture change. On behalf of FCO, I was thrilled to be able to attend and present at the conference. Walk with Me brought together older adults/residents, caregivers, educators, policy makers, students and researchers from all over the country to learn with and from each other how to change the culture of aging into a community where everyone thrives.
The two days of the conference were full of engaging plenary and concurrent sessions on various aspects of, ideas, and projects related to culture change. The opening keynote, Be With Me – Change the Way You See Me by Karen Stobbe & Mondy Carter (Co-Directors In the Moment) was an engaging, interactive session on perspective and how we see older adults. The performances of older adults in care and in the community strongly resonated with the conference attendees.
The Panel Discussion: Perspectives from Older Adults & Care Partners was an incredible opportunity to hear from people with lived experience: a man with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease, a man living in LTC with Multiple Sclerosis and a family caregiver. Their stories educated us, moved us, and energized us to change the culture of aging in Canada.
Dr. Sherry Dupuis’ ‘Just Dance with Me’: The Power of Relationships in LIVING keynote explored how relationships- at personal, organizational, and system levels- shape everyday experiences and concrete ways to improve quality of living for older adults. Of course, I took the opportunity to encourage everyone to look at the important relationships between older adults and their families. My comment to work authentically with families and friends of LTC residents to effect positive change at organizational and system levels were very well received!
Laying a path while walking: Co-creating residential communities where people flourish by Daniella Greenwood (Strategy and Innovation Manager, Arcare Australia) was a fantastic keynote on how one Australian care organization radically transformed LTC Homes into places where people thrive. Daniella’s examples of transforming the culture into one where staff are encouraged and supported to do their best work, residents are cared for and honoured for their contributions, and where small changes have made huge differences was inspiring. We all left with a deeper understanding of the power of a relationship-focused approach to elder care and how to put that approach into action.
I had the privilege of presenting The power of working together: walking with your families on the culture change journey (photo: session attendees discussing case studies). The session was full within minutes and extra chairs were brought in to accommodate the high demand! For 90 minutes we discussed how to authentically engage families and friends of residents in LTC and other care communities, how to drive culture change through quality improvement and community building, and specific tips and strategies for working well together. Feedback from the session was been positive and FCO is so pleased to have had such a great opportunity to spread the message of the benefits of family involvement in Long-Term Care.
A big Thank You to the conference organizers for hosting a fantastic conference! FCO was thrilled to attend and speak to culture change enthusiasts from across Canada. A quote we heard several times during the conference is near and dear to our hearts at FCO: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.- Margaret Mead. The group of thoughtful, committed citizens who attended Walk With Me certainly left inspired and with concrete ideas, tools, and strategies to enhance the journey of aging and change the world.
For an overview of the conference, visit http://www.the-ria.ca/walkwithme/2016-general-overview/ Materials from the presentations will be available on the conference website in the coming weeks.