Ecumen receives award for Awakenings

Ecumen was honored with a Leading Change Innovation Award at the 2013 Aging Services of Minnesota Institute. The award recognized Awakenings, Ecumen’s program to reduce the use of unnecessary antipsychotic and other medications for residents with dementia.

About one-third of all residents in nursing homes are prescribed such drugs. In some cases, these drugs are prescribed for people experiencing an acute psychosis. When prescribed for residents who do not have a psychosis diagnosis, they may contribute to a lower quality of life in addition to posing significant health risks.

In 2010, 15 of Ecumen’s care centers, including Ecumen Bethany Community in Alexandria, were awarded a three-year Performance Based Initiative Program (PIPP) grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).

The goal of the program is to improve the quality of life of care center residents by re-examining and improving the quality of care.

Awakenings is an integrated approach focusing on mind, body and spirit that incorporates the involvement of residents, family members and healthcare professionals. The result is a holistic approach to improving residents’ quality of life.

Since its implementation, the program has met and exceeded all of its formal PIPP outcome goals. In a one-year period, nearly 700 psychotropic medications have been either discontinued or decreased among people served in the Awakenings program.

The new memory care household on the Bethany campus will soon be included in the Awakenings initiative. This service expansion will offer more training for memory care staff in Awakenings as an integrated, holistic approach using human contact as a replacement for drugs.

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