RENFREW COUNTY — On Wednesday October 9, both Bonnechere Manor and Miramichi Lodge long-term care homes began a journey to turn a dementia care unit into a ButterflyHome. A coach bus departed the county early that morning for a scheduled tour of the first butterfly model home in Ontario, Malton Village in Mississauga. The group was comprised of elected officials, long-term care staff, foundation members, and family members from both Bonnechere Manor and Miramichi Lodge. The tour was conducted in small groups that visited the “neighbourhoods” at Malton Village, and their staff fielded questions from the Renfrew County visitors about the Butterfly Model and how the transition to a “person-centred” approach has changed quality of life and care over the last two and a half years since it was adopted.
The County of Renfrew is working with Meaningful Care Matters, an organization from the United Kingdom that specializes in supporting long term care homes to create environments that support people living with dementia using a “person-centred” approach.
What does “person-centred” mean? It means doing more than just making sure peoples’ bodies are safe and nourished. It means connecting with the person on an emotional level, which can be a powerful way to reach a person with dementia who can struggle with logic and memory. It means making their home truly feel like home, a place where family, friends, staff and volunteers can also feel at home with the people who call it “home”.
To be person-centred, it is important to know about, and connect on a personal level. What is important to them now and in their past? What makes them feel valued? By knowing this, we can make their space and experience feel more like home. The transition will include significant environmental changes such as smaller more home-like ‘neighbourhoods’ versus units. This would mean for example converting a dementia unit where currently 20 residents reside into two (2) smaller neighbourhoods of 10 and 10 residents.
Other environmental changes will include redesigning the dementia units to be more welcoming and intimate, and filling the household with the ‘stuff of life’ so that residents can connect with a variety of colours, textures and objects that reflect their past lives, work and hobbies.
Person-centred care has been shown to improve the well-being of individuals, less falls, less pain, reduced use of anti-psychotic medication, less unintended weight loss and other positive outcomes. In addition, staff sick time has been seen to decrease as staff are empowered to be less focused on tasks and more on the people living in the home.
Warden of the County of Renfrew Jennifer Murphy shared this about what she experienced, “I was so impressed and deeply touched by just how much the Butterfly Model really changes the way one looks at long-term care. The home has addressed every challenge and found a solution that is truly person-centric, and implemented changes making a person more comfortable. This model truly provides everyone with the feeling of being home.”
Chair of the County of Renfrew Health Committee Michael Donohue shared this, “I was incredibly impressed with how dynamic and adaptive the Butterfly Model is, in that it considers all things through the eyes of the people living with dementia. It responds to their individual needs and engages them not only in the physical space that is their home, but also where they exist at this point in their lives with dementia. This person-centred approach combines many factors to become an incredible thing called the Butterfly Model.”
The County of Renfrew is dedicated to carefully evaluating the project over the year-long journey, and sharing our experience with other care providers, the public, and the provincial government. Fundraising has already begun for adopting the model received through donations, and funds raised at galas hosted at the Homes earlier this year, and will be ongoing to assist with the costs to transition Bonnechere Manor and Miramichi Lodge dementia units to the Butterfly Model. Shelley Sheedy, Director of Long-Term Care for the County of Renfrew notes that; “the foundations hope we can continue to rely on our communities to support our Homes.”
