Equity in Aging Begins with Memory Support
This insightful webinar, part of the Activity Strong Executive Edition series, features a powerful conversation between Marvel Adams Jr. and Aaron Bonito on memory support and creating inclusive environments for senior living residents experiencing cognitive changes.
Key Takeaways
In this hour-long session, Marvel Adams Jr. (CEO of W Lawson) and Aaron Bonito (founder of Gemini Consulting) share valuable perspectives on truly engaging senior living residents with dementia by seeing them as people first, not through the lens of their condition.
Aaron, with over 20 years of experience coaching caregivers, demonstrates specific communication techniques that help include residents’ voices:
- Getting down to eye level or below when speaking with residents
- Using simple statements of seven words or less rather than questions
- Waiting patiently after speaking to allow processing time
- Approaching with relaxed body language to avoid appearing threatening
- Building rapport through appropriate physical touch
The speakers emphasize that effective resident engagement requires systematic organizational transformation. Communities that implemented these person-centered communication practices achieved remarkable results:
- 29% reduction in antipsychotic use
- 39% decrease in behavioral incidents
- 50% reduction in team member injuries
Why This Matters
As Marvel Adams highlights, when staff recognize all behaviors as communication attempts, they can better understand and include residents’ voices. This perspective shift views engagement not as “managing behaviors” but as “walking alongside” residents in their journey.
The speakers conclude that memory support serves as a litmus test for equity and inclusion in senior living communities. By developing “muscle memory” for these communication techniques throughout the organization—including training vendors and all departments—communities create truly inclusive environments where all residents’ voices are heard and valued.
This webinar is part of Link Senior’s commitment to supporting and elevating the experience provided to residents in senior living communities through the Activity Strong initiative, in partnership with Linked Senior, Pioneer Network, NAAP and NCAP.
