Megamorphosis

Megamorphosis (a term we made up) is the next phase in the Residential Care for Me journey. Closely related to the ongoing Residential Redevelopment planning, Megamorphosis is one step forward towards transforming residential care from an institutionalized medical model to a social model where first and foremost we create a home and community that our residents would want to live in. We know that we can’t wait until our new site is redeveloped to enhance our model of care so we are starting to test the ideas generated by residents, families and staff in previous phases of Residential Care for Me activities.

Over time, each of our five homes will experience Megamorphosis, which is a chance for residents, families and staff to rapidly test ideas that move us closer toward our shared vision of creating homes where we all would like to live. So far, Marguerite Place and Youville and the Orange Neighborhood at Brock Fahrni have been the first to go through the Megamorphosis. While the process will continually change as we learn more about what works and what doesn’t work, it has so far consisted of one month of pre-work focusing on teamwork, compassion, language and understanding pain, followed by 2 weeks of intense rapid-cycle testing of ideas.

While the specific work and ideas implemented will vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, Megamorphosis teams will be approaching the work with the same 3 themes in mind:

Emotional connections matter most
Residents direct each moment
Home is not a place it is a feeling

Testable ideas have included:

Changing our first response to questions asked of us to be ‘YES’
Making sure all staff have a name tag
Redecorating our environments to be vibrant and stimulating and making staff spaces invisible
Implementing a team huddle at 11:15
Using a whiteboard to help communicate which residents may be in need of attention
Creating more dining spaces
Find Me Lights – lights outside doorways to help staff communicate to others that they are occupied
Buddy program – a program to ensure that all residents have someone special to visit them on a regular basis

Overall, interactions between staff and residents are shifting to become more positive and social. Long-term success will be evaluated using the Provincial Quality of Life Survey.

Here are some pictures from Youville and Brock Fahrni’s Megamorphosis.

Before: