Western Home Communities hosts dementia education event
WCFCOURIER BAILEY KLINKHAMMER - On June 11 and 12, Teepa Snow and Amanda Bulgarelli provide audience interaction with their lecture on dementia. The conference was hosted by Western Home Communities in an effort to expand brain change education for Western Home Communities employees, residents and the general public.
CEDAR FALLS — Well-known advocates for people facing brain change led a conference Tuesday and Wednesday hosted by Western Home Communities in an effort to expand dementia education across the Cedar Valley.
Teepa Snow, who operates the North Carolina-based Positive Approach to Care, and Amanda Bulgarelli, the company’s chief operating officer, spoke during the conference at the Diamond Event Center.
Sonya Thrall, Western Home Communities’ system initiatives officer, helped organize the event. She manages corporate and strategic projects for the company and works with dementia education.
To her, the importance of dementia education cannot be overstated.
“We know that there are many people who live with dementia, brain change, for five to seven years before it’s diagnosed. Pretty much all of our employees interact with someone living with brain change every day, whether they know it or that person knows it. So, it’s very important to be aware of what brain change looks like and the strategies we can use to improve those interactions,” said Thrall.
The conference featured interactive lessons for attendees about dementia. Sessions taught attendees a variety of ways to keep interactions positive as individuals deal with dementia.
“Attendees are able to actually stand up and practice these interactions right away, practicing the right way, the wrong way and the right way again,” Thrall said.
It wasn’t the first dementia education session Western Home Communities has hosted. Larry Martin, the husband of a former resident, started a fund in honor of the “excellent care his wife received in the dementia cottage of Western Home Community.” With this fund, Western Home Communities has been able to welcome two speakers between 2023 and 2024 to educate employees and the public on dementia.
“One thing that Teepa teaches is how you greet someone, that you wave and extend your hand, and you don’t come into their personal space until they give you permission. ... And it’s tools like that, very specific ways of interacting, that help us grow better,” Thrall said.
The ballroom of the Diamond Event Center was filled with Western Home Communities employees, residents and members of the public to learn about brain change.
“This has a huge impact on our employees, especially those who are caring for people who live with dementia every day.”
Over the last five years, Western Home Communities has worked with the University of Iowa College of Nursing under a Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program Grant, which has allowed the training of hundreds of employees as dementia friends.
“The purpose of that program is to increase the awareness and decrease the stigma around dementia,” Thrall said.
Recently, Gilmore’s Pub, the restaurant attached to the Diamond Event Center within the Western Home Communities, became the first restaurant in the state of Iowa to be designated dementia friendly.
“We just keep moving forward and trying to make sure that we’re educated and growing and doing a better job all the time,” said Thrall.
