CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital partners with Alzheimer’s Alliance for Dementia-Friendly Program Initiative

February 9, 2023

Tyler, Texas – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler and the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County have partnered to create a “dementia-friendly program” to educate, train and raise awareness for caregivers of dementia patients.

“We want to do as much as we can to promote education, increase awareness and provide training that will help transform the view of the effects that dementia and Alzheimer’s can have on patients and care staff,” said 4 Dawson Clinical Director Maria Hartnauer, MSN, RN, CMSRN. “We want to give our staff the tools needed to have meaningful interactions with patients in our care.”

In 2019, the city of Tyler became the second city in Texas to be recognized by Dementia Friendly America as a “Dementia Friendly Community.” The Alzheimer’s Alliance and city of Tyler are now working with CHRISTUS Mother Frances to become a dementia-friendly organization.

“We are so excited to partner with CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital to help their staff understand dementia,” said Rebecca Smith, alliance marketing and education coordinator. “By helping people understand what dementia can be like, we can hopefully make the world a little kinder to those living with dementia.”

The partnership includes a Virtual Dementia Tour, an evidence-based exercise that reflects the experience of dementia to participants to help increase empathy and awareness. “After going through this experience, many of the common behaviors of someone with dementia will start to make sense,” Smith said.

The tour takes less than 30 minutes. After garbing up with sensory inhibitors — goggles, headphones, gloves, and shoe inserts— participants are asked to complete a few simple everyday tasks in a specifically designed experience room. These often prove difficult with the inhibitors.

“Most people who are living with dementia are still living at home and are part of our community,” Smith said. “By helping people understand what dementia can be like, we can hopefully make the world a little kinder to those living with dementia.”

The partnership also will include the implementation of an identification system to alert staff which patients are living with dementia, activity blankets to keep patients with dementia calm and occupied, referral to services at the alliance after discharge if needed and training for staff on how to approach and redirect patients when needed.

Hartnauer said the partnership is new to CHRISTUS Health and she hopes the programs can be implemented in other hospitals across the region and state.