{"id":2770,"date":"2016-12-13T07:00:59","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T14:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/93fd47b736.nxcli.net\/corporate\/?p=2770"},"modified":"2018-11-01T07:19:33","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T13:19:33","slug":"empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>December 13, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n<h6>By Mountain-Pacific<\/h6>\n<p><em>The Douglas Care Center of Wyoming opened a 24-hour caf\u00e9 that improved the quality of life for its residents while reducing weight loss and dehydration. Using Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) methods, the facility conducted a root-cause analysis and tested various interventions that lead to the implementation of its caf\u00e9.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Giving residents the power to choose what and when they want to eat 24 hours a day is curbing weight loss and dehydration at the Douglas Care Center. Finding that remedy, though, was not any easy process. It took a dedicated committee nearly a year to implement, test, change and retest strategies before a solution was found.<\/p>\n<p>Located in central Wyoming, the Douglas Care Center is a 60-bed, long-term care nursing home that specializes in rehabilitation and skilled nursing services. In 2015, the facility noticed a trend of weight loss in its residents after conducting routine monthly weight checks, prompting Douglas\u2019 administration team to take action.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Creating a committee, finding a solution<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The first step the administration team took was to educate stakeholders about the problem, while planting the idea that a committee could work on the issue. Once people understood the problem, leadership, staff and the center\u2019s resident council supported the project and the formation of a committee.<\/p>\n<p>Next, Douglas\u2019 administration team formed a committee including representatives from the dietary, housekeeping, activities and nursing departments. The committee met regularly to evaluate root causes of the problem, while trying different interventions, documenting everything in a performance improvement plan (PIP). A PIP is a commonly used quality improvement tool that details end\/start dates and the outcomes of processes.<\/p>\n<p>The committee implemented interventions and then weighed residents to test outcomes. After numerous unsuccessful interventions, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health suggested a 24-hour caf\u00e9, a data-proven success in other facilities.<\/p>\n<p>The committee presented the caf\u00e9 option and the data from other nursing homes to the administration team, which approved the idea. One year later, the caf\u00e9 has an assortment of beverages and snacks, a refrigerator and soda machine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll residents have the right to choose what they want to eat, regardless of dietary suggestions,\u201d said Michelle Jensen, social services director for Douglas. \u201cOur caf\u00e9 honors that right by including both healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks and drink choices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Staff admit the process to evaluate interventions, implement and then measure outcomes was time- consuming, but it was an important part of vetting possible solutions. Once the facility indentified the caf\u00e9 as the solution, new challenges presented themselves:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where to build the caf\u00e9<\/li>\n<li>How to pay for it<\/li>\n<li>How to make up for the lost space, since the caf\u00e9 was built in a meeting room<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The committee opted to build the caf\u00e9 next to the dining room area in a spare meeting room and worked with contractors to bid and build it. Funding the caf\u00e9 was another challenge. The facility wanted to build it without incurring additional costs over its existing budget. Leadership asked department heads to evaluate their budgets to reduce costs, so directors from different departments worked together to be fiscally conservative. To sustain operations of the caf\u00e9, the center assigned staff members to maintain inventory and clean it. And to mitigate the lost meeting room where the caf\u00e9 was built, the center moved meetings to other rooms in the facility.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Positive outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The caf\u00e9 empowers residents. Residents now have more independence and choices for what and when they want to eat and drink. These options are reducing weight loss and dehydration. The caf\u00e9 also helps those with diabetes. Now residents can get food or drinks any time to help boost blood sugars. The space also serves as a home-like environment where families can visit their loved ones and have a meal together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have gotten really good feedback from both the families and residents,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cResidents are very happy to go into the caf\u00e9 and help themselves. It gives them that control over their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Staff have also seen decreased negative behaviors, more positive moods and increased mobility in residents. They get out of their rooms more often to check out the caf\u00e9 and to socialize.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nAdvice for others interested in a 24-hour caf\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To replicate this success, Jensen recommends the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get residents on board to help with decisions, provide support and make food and drink choices.<\/li>\n<li>Allow for adjustments in parameters and decisions as the project evolves.<\/li>\n<li>Do not get discouraged by change.<\/li>\n<li>Allow for modifications during and after implementing a caf\u00e9.<\/li>\n<li>Remember: It is a learning process, and things may work differently for each facility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/FINAL_Douglas-Care-Center_NH-Success-Story.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Download the PDF<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>About Mountain-Pacific<\/strong>\u2014Mountain-Pacific is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and holds federal and state contracts that allow them to oversee the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members. Mountain-Pacific works within its region (Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) to help improve the delivery of health care and the systems that provide it. Mountain-Pacific\u2019s goal is to increase access to high-quality health care that is affordable, safe and of value to the patients they serve.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mpqhf.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.mpqhf.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 13, 2016<br \/>\nBy Mountain-Pacific<br \/>\nThe Douglas Care Center of Wyoming opened a 24-hour caf\u00e9 that improved the quality of life for its residents while reducing weight loss and dehydration. Using Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) methods, the facility conducted a root-cause analysis and tested various interventions that lead to the implementation of its caf\u00e9.<br \/>\nGiving residents the power to choose what and when they want to eat 24 hours a day is curbing weight loss and dehydration at the Douglas Care Center. Finding that remedy, though, was not any easy process. It took a dedicated committee nearly a year to implement, test, change and retest strategies before a solution was found.<br \/>\nLocated in central Wyoming, the Douglas Care Center is a 60-bed, long-term care nursing home that specializes in rehabilitation and skilled nursing services. In 2015, the facility noticed a trend of weight loss in its residents after conducting routine monthly weight checks, prompting Douglas\u2019 administration team to take action.<br \/>\nCreating a committee, finding a solution<br \/>\nThe first step the administration team took was to educate stakeholders about the problem, while planting the idea that a committee could work on the issue. Once people understood the problem, leadership, staff and the center\u2019s resident council supported the project and the formation of a committee.<br \/>\nNext, Douglas\u2019 administration team formed a committee including representatives from the dietary, housekeeping, activities and nursing departments. The committee met regularly to evaluate root causes of the problem, while trying different interventions, documenting everything in a performance improvement plan (PIP). A PIP is a commonly used quality improvement tool that details end\/start dates and the outcomes of processes.<br \/>\nThe committee implemented interventions and then weighed residents to test outcomes. After numerous unsuccessful interventions, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health suggested a 24-hour caf\u00e9, a data-proven success in other facilities.<br \/>\nThe committee presented the caf\u00e9 option and the data from other nursing homes to the administration team, which approved the idea. One year later, the caf\u00e9 has an assortment of beverages and snacks, a refrigerator and soda machine.<br \/>\n\u201cAll residents have the right to choose what they want to eat, regardless of dietary suggestions,\u201d said Michelle Jensen, social services director for Douglas. \u201cOur caf\u00e9 honors that right by including both healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks and drink choices.\u201d<br \/>\nChallenges<br \/>\nStaff admit the process to evaluate interventions, implement and then measure outcomes was time- consuming, but it was an important part of vetting possible solutions. Once the facility indentified the caf\u00e9 as the solution, new challenges presented themselves:<\/p>\n<p>Where to build the caf\u00e9<br \/>\nHow to pay for it<br \/>\nHow to make up for the lost space, since the caf\u00e9 was built in a meeting room<\/p>\n<p>The committee opted to build the caf\u00e9 next to the dining room area in a spare meeting room and worked with contractors to bid and build it. Funding the caf\u00e9 was another challenge. The facility wanted to build it without incurring additional costs over its existing budget. Leadership asked department heads to evaluate their budgets to reduce costs, so directors from different departments worked together to be fiscally conservative. To sustain operations of the caf\u00e9, the center assigned staff members to maintain inventory and clean it. And to mitigate the lost meeting room where the caf\u00e9 was built, the center moved meetings to other rooms in the facility.<br \/>\nPositive outcomes<br \/>\nThe caf\u00e9 empowers residents. Residents now have more independence and choices for what and when they want to eat and drink. These options are reducing weight loss and dehydration. The caf\u00e9 also helps those with diabetes. Now residents can get food or drinks any time to help boost blood sugars. The space also serves as a home-like environment where families can visit their loved ones and have a meal together.<br \/>\n\u201cWe have gotten really good feedback from both the families and residents,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cResidents are very happy to go into the caf\u00e9 and help themselves. It gives them that control over their lives.\u201d<br \/>\nStaff have also seen decreased negative behaviors, more positive moods and increased mobility in residents. They get out of their rooms more often to check out the caf\u00e9 and to socialize.<\/p>\n<p>Advice for others interested in a 24-hour caf\u00e9<br \/>\nTo replicate this success, Jensen recommends the following:<\/p>\n<p>Get residents on board to help with decisions, provide support and make food and drink choices.<br \/>\nAllow for adjustments in parameters and decisions as the project evolves.<br \/>\nDo not get discouraged by change.<br \/>\nAllow for modifications during and after implementing a caf\u00e9.<br \/>\nRemember: It is a learning process, and things may work differently for each facility.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/FINAL_Douglas-Care-Center_NH-Success-Story.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Download the PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>About Mountain-Pacific\u2014Mountain-Pacific is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and holds federal and state contracts that allow them to oversee the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members. Mountain-Pacific works within its region (Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) to help improve the delivery of health care and the systems that provide it. Mountain-Pacific\u2019s goal is to increase access to high-quality health care that is affordable, safe and of value to the patients they serve.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mpqhf.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.mpqhf.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-success-stories","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence - Mountain Pacific<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence - Mountain Pacific\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 13, 2016 By Mountain-Pacific The Douglas Care Center of Wyoming opened a 24-hour caf\u00e9 that improved the quality of life for its residents while reducing weight loss and dehydration. Using Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) methods, the facility conducted a root-cause analysis and tested various interventions that lead to the implementation of its caf\u00e9. Giving residents the power to choose what and when they want to eat 24 hours a day is curbing weight loss and dehydration at the Douglas Care Center. Finding that remedy, though, was not any easy process. It took a dedicated committee nearly a year to implement, test, change and retest strategies before a solution was found. Located in central Wyoming, the Douglas Care Center is a 60-bed, long-term care nursing home that specializes in rehabilitation and skilled nursing services. In 2015, the facility noticed a trend of weight loss in its residents after conducting routine monthly weight checks, prompting Douglas\u2019 administration team to take action. Creating a committee, finding a solution The first step the administration team took was to educate stakeholders about the problem, while planting the idea that a committee could work on the issue. Once people understood the problem, leadership, staff and the center\u2019s resident council supported the project and the formation of a committee. Next, Douglas\u2019 administration team formed a committee including representatives from the dietary, housekeeping, activities and nursing departments. The committee met regularly to evaluate root causes of the problem, while trying different interventions, documenting everything in a performance improvement plan (PIP). A PIP is a commonly used quality improvement tool that details end\/start dates and the outcomes of processes. The committee implemented interventions and then weighed residents to test outcomes. After numerous unsuccessful interventions, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health suggested a 24-hour caf\u00e9, a data-proven success in other facilities. The committee presented the caf\u00e9 option and the data from other nursing homes to the administration team, which approved the idea. One year later, the caf\u00e9 has an assortment of beverages and snacks, a refrigerator and soda machine. \u201cAll residents have the right to choose what they want to eat, regardless of dietary suggestions,\u201d said Michelle Jensen, social services director for Douglas. \u201cOur caf\u00e9 honors that right by including both healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks and drink choices.\u201d Challenges Staff admit the process to evaluate interventions, implement and then measure outcomes was time- consuming, but it was an important part of vetting possible solutions. Once the facility indentified the caf\u00e9 as the solution, new challenges presented themselves: Where to build the caf\u00e9 How to pay for it How to make up for the lost space, since the caf\u00e9 was built in a meeting room The committee opted to build the caf\u00e9 next to the dining room area in a spare meeting room and worked with contractors to bid and build it. Funding the caf\u00e9 was another challenge. The facility wanted to build it without incurring additional costs over its existing budget. Leadership asked department heads to evaluate their budgets to reduce costs, so directors from different departments worked together to be fiscally conservative. To sustain operations of the caf\u00e9, the center assigned staff members to maintain inventory and clean it. And to mitigate the lost meeting room where the caf\u00e9 was built, the center moved meetings to other rooms in the facility. Positive outcomes The caf\u00e9 empowers residents. Residents now have more independence and choices for what and when they want to eat and drink. These options are reducing weight loss and dehydration. The caf\u00e9 also helps those with diabetes. Now residents can get food or drinks any time to help boost blood sugars. The space also serves as a home-like environment where families can visit their loved ones and have a meal together. \u201cWe have gotten really good feedback from both the families and residents,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cResidents are very happy to go into the caf\u00e9 and help themselves. It gives them that control over their lives.\u201d Staff have also seen decreased negative behaviors, more positive moods and increased mobility in residents. They get out of their rooms more often to check out the caf\u00e9 and to socialize. Advice for others interested in a 24-hour caf\u00e9 To replicate this success, Jensen recommends the following: Get residents on board to help with decisions, provide support and make food and drink choices. Allow for adjustments in parameters and decisions as the project evolves. Do not get discouraged by change. Allow for modifications during and after implementing a caf\u00e9. Remember: It is a learning process, and things may work differently for each facility. Download the PDF About Mountain-Pacific\u2014Mountain-Pacific is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and holds federal and state contracts that allow them to oversee the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members. Mountain-Pacific works within its region (Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) to help improve the delivery of health care and the systems that provide it. Mountain-Pacific\u2019s goal is to increase access to high-quality health care that is affordable, safe and of value to the patients they serve. www.mpqhf.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mountain Pacific\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-13T14:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-01T13:19:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dale Applegate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dale Applegate\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/\",\"name\":\"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence - Mountain Pacific\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-13T14:00:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-01T13:19:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#\/schema\/person\/5e123d3f063699a943fe2077a963b865\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/\",\"name\":\"Mountain Pacific\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#\/schema\/person\/5e123d3f063699a943fe2077a963b865\",\"name\":\"Dale Applegate\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/author\/dale_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence - Mountain Pacific","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence - Mountain Pacific","og_description":"December 13, 2016 By Mountain-Pacific The Douglas Care Center of Wyoming opened a 24-hour caf\u00e9 that improved the quality of life for its residents while reducing weight loss and dehydration. Using Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) methods, the facility conducted a root-cause analysis and tested various interventions that lead to the implementation of its caf\u00e9. Giving residents the power to choose what and when they want to eat 24 hours a day is curbing weight loss and dehydration at the Douglas Care Center. Finding that remedy, though, was not any easy process. It took a dedicated committee nearly a year to implement, test, change and retest strategies before a solution was found. Located in central Wyoming, the Douglas Care Center is a 60-bed, long-term care nursing home that specializes in rehabilitation and skilled nursing services. In 2015, the facility noticed a trend of weight loss in its residents after conducting routine monthly weight checks, prompting Douglas\u2019 administration team to take action. Creating a committee, finding a solution The first step the administration team took was to educate stakeholders about the problem, while planting the idea that a committee could work on the issue. Once people understood the problem, leadership, staff and the center\u2019s resident council supported the project and the formation of a committee. Next, Douglas\u2019 administration team formed a committee including representatives from the dietary, housekeeping, activities and nursing departments. The committee met regularly to evaluate root causes of the problem, while trying different interventions, documenting everything in a performance improvement plan (PIP). A PIP is a commonly used quality improvement tool that details end\/start dates and the outcomes of processes. The committee implemented interventions and then weighed residents to test outcomes. After numerous unsuccessful interventions, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health suggested a 24-hour caf\u00e9, a data-proven success in other facilities. The committee presented the caf\u00e9 option and the data from other nursing homes to the administration team, which approved the idea. One year later, the caf\u00e9 has an assortment of beverages and snacks, a refrigerator and soda machine. \u201cAll residents have the right to choose what they want to eat, regardless of dietary suggestions,\u201d said Michelle Jensen, social services director for Douglas. \u201cOur caf\u00e9 honors that right by including both healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks and drink choices.\u201d Challenges Staff admit the process to evaluate interventions, implement and then measure outcomes was time- consuming, but it was an important part of vetting possible solutions. Once the facility indentified the caf\u00e9 as the solution, new challenges presented themselves: Where to build the caf\u00e9 How to pay for it How to make up for the lost space, since the caf\u00e9 was built in a meeting room The committee opted to build the caf\u00e9 next to the dining room area in a spare meeting room and worked with contractors to bid and build it. Funding the caf\u00e9 was another challenge. The facility wanted to build it without incurring additional costs over its existing budget. Leadership asked department heads to evaluate their budgets to reduce costs, so directors from different departments worked together to be fiscally conservative. To sustain operations of the caf\u00e9, the center assigned staff members to maintain inventory and clean it. And to mitigate the lost meeting room where the caf\u00e9 was built, the center moved meetings to other rooms in the facility. Positive outcomes The caf\u00e9 empowers residents. Residents now have more independence and choices for what and when they want to eat and drink. These options are reducing weight loss and dehydration. The caf\u00e9 also helps those with diabetes. Now residents can get food or drinks any time to help boost blood sugars. The space also serves as a home-like environment where families can visit their loved ones and have a meal together. \u201cWe have gotten really good feedback from both the families and residents,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cResidents are very happy to go into the caf\u00e9 and help themselves. It gives them that control over their lives.\u201d Staff have also seen decreased negative behaviors, more positive moods and increased mobility in residents. They get out of their rooms more often to check out the caf\u00e9 and to socialize. Advice for others interested in a 24-hour caf\u00e9 To replicate this success, Jensen recommends the following: Get residents on board to help with decisions, provide support and make food and drink choices. Allow for adjustments in parameters and decisions as the project evolves. Do not get discouraged by change. Allow for modifications during and after implementing a caf\u00e9. Remember: It is a learning process, and things may work differently for each facility. Download the PDF About Mountain-Pacific\u2014Mountain-Pacific is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and holds federal and state contracts that allow them to oversee the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members. Mountain-Pacific works within its region (Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) to help improve the delivery of health care and the systems that provide it. Mountain-Pacific\u2019s goal is to increase access to high-quality health care that is affordable, safe and of value to the patients they serve. www.mpqhf.org","og_url":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/","og_site_name":"Mountain Pacific","article_published_time":"2016-12-13T14:00:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-01T13:19:33+00:00","author":"Dale Applegate","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dale Applegate","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/","url":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/","name":"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence - Mountain Pacific","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-13T14:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-01T13:19:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#\/schema\/person\/5e123d3f063699a943fe2077a963b865"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/empowering-nursing-home-residents-choices-leads-greater-health-satisfaction-independence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Success Story: Empowering Nursing Home Residents through Choices Leads to Greater Health, Satisfaction and Independence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/","name":"Mountain Pacific","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/#\/schema\/person\/5e123d3f063699a943fe2077a963b865","name":"Dale Applegate","url":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/author\/dale_admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/corporate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}