Sycamore Village Assisted Living - Swansea, IL

Natalie McFarland, RN, BSN, Dementia Care Educator of Sycamore Village, was invited to present at the 2011 Illinois Pioneer Coalition Summit. The event was held in Springfield, IL at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on October 4th, with caregivers from around the Midwest in attendance.  McFarland first led a learning station that instructed attendees on ways to utilize life stories in their communities.  The session covered the importance of treating a resident as a person and not as "their disease", creating and implementing employee life stories and utilizing the information from a resident's life story in order to personalize their care and recreate their memories.  McFarland also offered a presentation later in the afternoon on "Creating Art in Your Community",  where she gave tips on how to put together a creative arts program and even did a hands-on art project with the attendees who, together, created a beautiful canvas painting in shades of blue.  All guests were given invitations to the upcoming Alzheimer's Art Auction to be held at Sycamore Village on November 3rd, featuring over 200 pieces of original artwork by residents with memory loss.