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Radford Green Makes Heartfelt Connections with Residents

She helped guard the Bush family ranch as an aerospace control and warning systems surveillance technician after 911, but today Air Force veteran Tiffany Zapata is focused on residents at Radford Green on the Sedgebrook senior living campus in Lincolnshire.

As assisted living and memory care manager and a licensed practical nurse, Zapata supports residents by emphasizing what they can still accomplish, not what they've lost. This core tenet of Heartfelt Connections - A Memory Care Program®, in which she is a certified instructor, guides her and the team of nurses and certified nursing assistants she trains on an ongoing basis.

"Each resident's service plan is centered upon their individual needs and interests, and our goal is to respond positively and reassuringly to whatever they're experiencing," said Zapata. For example, she said, a person might be unrealistically concerned with the whereabouts of a loved one. Responding with denial or pointing out the actuality of the situation is counterproductive. Instead, redirection and respectful reaction to, and acknowledgement of, perceptions that are legitimate and real to residents is the applied practice.

The Heartfelt Connections model, a product of Sedgebrook parent company's Life Care Services, "reduces anxiety and increases safety and well-being by focusing on social interactions and familiar daily activities…one success at a time." "Success" might be defined by something as simple as dressing oneself, said Zapata. "We encourage residents if they can still do something; there is always positive reinforcement, whether their clothes match perfectly or not."

Building relationships is also key for Zapata and the Radford Green team. "Our general, guiding principle is to get to know each individual person, to learn their unique history and what they like," she said. "This gives them a level of comfort and quality of life."

Adding to comfort and familiarity is the maintenance of friendships across the entire Sedgebrook-Radford Green complex. Lunch outings to independent living Sedgebrook help Radford Green residents stay in touch with the community as a whole and demonstrate that they're still out and about and involved. They also go off-campus to such places as the Chicago Botanic Garden, which they recently visited.

"We encourage activities and socialization among all residents," said Zapata, who joined the Radford Green staff nine and a half years ago with the opening of its long-term care unit in skilled nursing.

Before coming to Radford Green and after her military service from 2001-2004, Zapata followed in her mother, sister and aunt's footsteps and earned her nursing license in 2007. She was a nurse at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in North Chicago, where her own experience as a veteran was particularly helpful to patients. Even now, she says, she can be of special support to residents with military backgrounds.

"If you can find one thing that connects you with a resident or makes them happy, you create a bond," said the woman who enjoys problem solving and critical thinking in terms of what is going to reach someone most effectively.

In addition to forming relationships and addressing individual needs and desires, Zapata and her team are well-informed of residents' medical issues, thanks to two onsite physicians who do a "great job of communicating with staff and keeping us informed." She and staff have also initiated a respite program at Radford Green for internal and external residents in need of temporary stay.

"When we reach people where they are and bring a smile to their faces, we're making the truly heartfelt connections that make all the difference," she said.

SEDGEBROOK

Sedgebrook is a Life Plan Community offering a diverse lifestyle, maintenance-free living, and outstanding amenities. Five-star rated Radford Green Health Care and Rehabilitation is located on the 72-acre Sedgebrook campus in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Sedgebrook is a Senior Care Development, LLC affiliated community and managed by Life Care Services LLC®. For additional information visit www.WelcomeToSedgebrook.com or call 847-901-3319.

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