A dementia care plan describes the needs of a person, their preferences and choices and provides staff with the plan for how to provide quality care specific to your loved one. There are different types of care plans but the one being shared in this post combines information for nurses, personal support workers and other staff who might spend time with your loved one. It's a well-rounded plan combining:
basic info about the person's history
names of people who are important to the person
personal care tips
communication tips
eating patterns/likes and dislikes
mobility
recreation and leisure interests
This care plan is designed to be short and simple so casual staff who don't have time to read a person's chart, can easily read the sheet before interacting with your loved one. Unfortunately, in many facilities, there are often staff who are filling in for others and they don't know the residents/patients well. This care plan helps them to get to know a little bit about your loved one so they can build rapport. Building rapport with a person is one of the most important aspects of care. I'm sure you can imagine how frightening it might be if you're in a facility and a new staff member approaches you to do personal care. Now, if the person was able to talk to you using the names of your loved ones or talk about what you did for a living, you will most likely feel more comfortable. If they know what irks you or frightens you, it would also help. By knowing a little bit about the person, staff can begin to engage the person and make them feel more comfortable. The care plan below can easily be filled out by family members or by friends or caregivers who know the person well. All you need to do is download the file and change the information to whatever you feel is helpful for the staff to know. Keep it simple so staff will actually read the information. If there is too much information, it likely will not be read by the staff you are trying to reach.
Boxes and pictures have been placed on the care plan but you can change the sizes or images to suit whatever information you want to include. You know your loved one better than anyone. Create a care plan to teach others about the important things they need to know to give your loved one the best care possible.