Celebrating Multicultural Diversity

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By Tara Meyerpeter, OT, DOR, Keystone Ridge Nursing & Rehabilitation, Omaha, NE
America’s aging population continues to increase in numbers as well as cultural diversity. Baby boomers of all races and nationalities are entering our senior living communities. It is important to embrace cultural diversity and accept the different customs that contribute to the make-up. As the make-up of seniors changes, front-line staff are provided the opportunity to embrace new cultures and celebrate multicultural diversity.

Here’s how to get involved:

  • Create an occupational profile to obtain pertinent information regarding ethnicity and cultural background following development of rapport and trust.
  • Identify ways to incorporate preferences into treatment sessions (such as recognition of prayer practices, cultural preference/practices, and routines).
  • Provide your staff with education to recognize and accommodate the unique needs that accompany different cultures.
  • Provide activities and programs that offer seniors the opportunity to experience a variety of cultures such as a multi-cultural showcase.
  • Provide interpreters for those who need it, especially in medical situations.
  • Enable the use of interpersonal skills to demonstrate intentional respect for resident’s cultures.
  • Offer residents with opportunities to express cultural heritage and to learn about cultural identities of others.

Keystone Ridge celebrates diversity in a multitude of ways. Recently, our OT Woroud (Rosie) Hudson assisted in creating a multicultural diversity group with our residents. Each week for four weeks in the month of August, residents worked on their project to display at our Multicultural Showcase. The residents met every Tuesday for approximately 30 to 45 minutes in preparation for the final presentation. The residents were provided with the level of cognitive assistance needed to fully engage and become immersed in research. Research included reading and locating pertinent information in printed article form and on the internet, locating images to add to posters, and cutting/pasting and organizing printed information on a tri-fold poster to represent countries. Most residents chose countries from which they had ancestry, while others chose countries related to personal interests. Each session, residents reported the history of their country, geography, traditional food and attire, art/music, and shared past experiences. They determined what artifact would be showcased to represent their country, whether it be food, attire, music, or a video displaying their country.

These activities allowed residents to take pride in their accomplishments and promoted an overall sense of both independence and interdependence, which enhanced their quality of life which enhanced QOL. The residents were excited and looked forward to attending the next session/workshop to continue to work on the final project. Residents were motivated to get out of bed and attend workshops during program, which was a motivating factor to increase out-of-bed and out-of-room activity to decrease the risk of excess disability and sensory deprivation. The most powerful benefit accomplished from this program would be the reminiscing-building opportunities developed during the sessions and at final showcase. Residents were able to tap into long-term memories of past experiences related to culture and past traditions and enjoyed sharing past experiences with others.

Countries exhibited included: Italy, Mexico, Poland, Germany, Jordan, and Lebanon.

From NBCOT News Release: Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant Wins Prestigious NBCOT Impact Award

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Congratulations Patty Fantauzzo, CTO/COTA/L, TPM, Julia Temple, Englewood, CO

Gaithersburg, MD: The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT®) announces Patricia “Patty” Fantauzzo, COTA/L, a certified occupational therapy assistant from Castle Rock, CO, has won the 2022 NBCOT Impact Award. This award recognizes certified occupational therapy (OT) practitioners who demonstrate exceptional professional commitment through their dedication, hard work, and outstanding OT skills to improve their clients’ overall life satisfaction.

Patty received the NBCOT Impact Award because of her dedication to providing services for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Patty’s colleague Malissa Sanchez, COTA/L, nominated her for the award. At Julia Temple Healthcare, Patty created a therapy program that uses the Abilities Care Approach to ensure long-term care residents who have Alzheimer’s and dementia progress through the disease process with dignity and comfort while maintaining their highest practicable level of cognitive and physical function. Prior to Patty’s involvement, long-term care residents with cognitive impairments at Julia Temple were less likely to receive skilled therapy services. Patty’s approach to providing care is to focus on the residents’ remaining abilities instead of their deficits and to consider what the resident can do or may do based on their preferences. Patty’s team of therapists embraced this philosophy and as a result, they completely transformed the therapy department and the facility as a whole. Through this approach, therapists and physicians also have a better understanding of each resident’s individual abilities and needs, which has enabled them to interact with residents in a more meaningful way. Several program outcomes can be partly traced back to Patty’s work, including a reduction in resident altercations, increased resident independence with certain tasks, and fewer prescriptions for psychotropic medications.

Patty earned her national OT certification in 1995. She is the Therapy Program Manager and Chief Therapy Officer (our highest designation for a Therapy Leader) at Julia Temple Healthcare in Colorado. Patty has shared her knowledge on dementia programming at Colorado Occupational Therapy Association’s annual conference and to dementia support groups and practitioners at Julia Temple. She also assisted two sister facilities in introducing dementia programming to their long-term care services. Patty has received several awards for her work, including the Agatha Jackson COTA Award of Excellence from the Colorado Occupational Therapy Association and the COTA of the Year award from the Arizona Occupational Therapy Association.

For more information about the NBCOT Impact Award, visit www.nbcot.org/awards.

Ceramic Arts at Hurricane Health

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Submitted by Asa Gardine, Sunstone Therapy Resource, Utah
Hurricane Health & Rehab’s therapy department is always looking for great ideas for new group treatments that are both engaging AND relevant to our patients. Thankfully, we have a passionate team member, Shannon O’Connor, who used her resources and asked her friend, Brandon Berrett, who owns The Creative Cure, a ceramic studio in St. George that provides art therapeutic services to the community, if he would be able to help with a ceramics group. Brandon also teaches ceramics at a local high school, so together Shannon, Brandon, and four of his high school students brought ceramic arts to Hurricane Health and Rehab for a massively successful group treatment.

A total of 14 patients participated, and each had their own pottery wheel and were able to receive instruction. Every patient was smiling ear to ear along with their therapists and instructors. This was a monumental effort to pull off, and the positive memories of that day are still felt by the residents who are proud of their creations of art and their expressions of themselves.

Brandon is currently providing the color for the pottery and the kiln firing and will be returning their custom pieces to them soon!

Introducing the Outpatient Team at Victoria Care, Ventura, CA

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Submitted by Aimee Bhatia, MSOTR/L, PAM, CTO, NCI Therapy Resource, California
Victoria Care Center was the first building in NCI to crack into the world of outpatient by building programming at our now Pennant partners at the Lexington Assisted Living facility. The start was not easy despite being partners, but the impact that has been made and the programming that has been established is remarkable. The Lexington went through a rough patch with changes in leadership, but an administrator recently transitioned back into the role, allowing for some positive changes. Prior to this change, residents were unhappy. The facility was going through a change in leadership, and with the changes came many adjustments to the team. Therapy stepped in to make an impact on many aspects of the residents’ quality of life.

Here are just a few things that Shannon Murphy, PT; Stephanie Nowlin, COTA; and Maria Lebon, Rehab Aide took on to help the facility stabilize:

  • Assisting residents in making doctors’ appointments
  • Updating families regularly on therapy progress and the need for DME
  • Facilitating admissions to Victoria Care Center when their residents were hospitalized
  • Helping residents with banking struggles
  • Assisting a resident with care for his blind and deaf dog, who has been adopted as the therapy mascot
  • Adopting a resident’s cat when she had to relocate to be closer to family and providing all necessary care to improve its wellness
  • Welcoming the residents into their rehab family

The amount of support, the ability to thrive, and the increased satisfaction made a significant difference in the lives of the residents. They have created an environment in the ALF where the residents often seek the therapists out just to socialize a little and many have formed friendships. . This is a true example of our organization’s culture and how invaluable it is to embrace. These three members of Victoria’s therapy team have made such an impact on a community that simply would not be the same without them. . Thank you Shannon, Stephanie, and Maria for the work you do, for the impact you make, and for constantly finding meaningful ways to impact the patients we care for every day. This is a true example of loving what you do, finding a way to make positive changes amongst hardship, and being dedicated to a valuable mission.

Behind the Scenes Super Star: Soon Burnam

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Submitted by Sacchin Bhatia, Therapy Resource
Soon Burnam is the Director of Licensing and Regulatory Services and has been with Ensign Services since 2003! She has always been a great partner to therapy and has helped support our entrepreneurial spirit by helping navigate the right path for exploring these new ideas. She lives our CAPLICO values in all aspects of her work and is a mentor to all who come in contact with her. She expresses Passion for learning as her favorite core value and feels she is always growing and learning.


On a more personal note, Soon was born in 1971 in Seoul, South Korea. She grew up in Irvine, Orange county and still calls Irvine home. She and her husband Tom, have four children aged 19, 17, 15 and 13. They have grown up coming to the Service Center since early childhood. When they were younger, they loved helping with some of the behind the scenes duties such as the scanning or photocopying. They too have been living and learning CAPLICO throughout their lives. Soon enjoys Italian food and loves “good ol’ southern comfort food.” While she is not into sports, after spending time with me, she’s now a Lakers fan (I convinced her 😊). Soon loves to travel and some of her favorite destinations have been Spain and Ireland. Her favorite movies are Top Gun, Indiana Jones, Breakfast club and anything from the 80’s. Her hobbies include reading, travel, crafts and spending as much time as possible with her kids. We are so grateful to call Soon our partner and friend. Thank you for all you do for us, Soon Burnam!

Looking for Excellence in Dementia Care?

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Check out some of our Summit Facilities
Submitted by Elyse Matson, MA CCC-SLP Resource
On a few recent visits to facilities in Summit, we saw some amazing programming!

In Pennant Washington, the team led by Patrick Amar at Mira Vista in Mount Vernon, Washington, was brimming with positivity and excitement about their dementia care programs. On this particular day, the incredible resources from IN2L (https://in2l.com/) were demonstrated. It was clear this team, including their activities director, had a plan for integrating these tools into both therapy and activities. How amazing it was to listen as the team strategized on ways to use IN2L and better the lives of their residents.

At Owyhee Health and Rehab in Homedale, Idaho, our Abilities Care Refresher was an incredible learning experience about how great dementia programs really help the lives of the residents. Residents were asking to show us their life story boards, and we saw functional plans in action as Lexi Haigh, SLP, DOR, and Fresca Stewart, COTA, explained and demonstrated how abilities care is working in their facility.

Finally, at Rosewood Rehab in Reno, Nevada, DOR Whitney Wilding and team displayed a phenomenal understanding of dementia care and of the needs of all their residents. As we reviewed the concepts of Can do, Will do, May do and discussed the Evaluative, Intervention, and Maintenance phases of Abilities Care, ALL THREE disciplines actively participated and knew all these concepts equally well. Talk about a singular mission! As we visited residents and saw story boards and interventions, it was clear that Rosewood is dedicated to great dementia care for their residents.

The Hills Got Skills 2.0

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By Sadaf Roodbaei, NHA, MS CCC-SLP; Angelica Reyes, RN, DON; Paul Emerson Baloy OTD, OTR/L, DOR
The Hills Post-Acute held its second annual skills fair for our nursing staff on Thursday, Sept 15, 2022. This year’s theme was cunningly conceptualized as Circus Carnival. Our leaders Sadaf, ED and Angie, DON, with the support of all the department heads, creatively put together the circus carnival, themed Passion for Learning, as an experience for all our nursing staff to enjoy. No details were forgotten. They had everything from cotton candy machines, candy claw machine, hotdog warmers, lots of balloons, popcorn maker, circus decor, food and games, which were all set up to make the most of the clever and innovative event.

With the unwavering support from vendor and cluster partners, as well as resources, booths were assigned to discuss, educate and demonstrate specific information on skills to refresh and revitalize our nursing staff’s clinical competencies, which translates into continuing to provide of quality, top-notch care to our residents. The skills training content and competency checklist were strategically based on past survey opportunities, facility assessment and current device and equipment training. This ambitious feat was once again satisfactorily completed for the books! A testament in the pursuit of elevating post-acute care in the eyes of the world.

#OneClinical in Keystone North Texas

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Submitted by Cara Koepsel M.S. CCC-SLP, Therapy Resource, CTO – Keystone North Texas

#OneClinical has been a big focus for us here in Keystone this month! We have been piloting and rolling out Ultramist, a wound care treatment tool, in several of our facilities throughout the state and have seen some amazing results. In our efforts to partner with nursing and assist with great outcomes and quality measures through our LTC programming, Ultramist has shown us the way. Our very own Dustin Rex, DPT and CTO at Park Manor Bee Cave, presented on the benefits he and his team in Apex have seen with wound healing and QMs during our company-wide therapy leadership call this month. Below is a clinical synopsis from one of our outstanding Physical Therapists at Heritage Gardens. He shares with us the success their team has seen with Ultramist during the pilot at their facility. This is such a fantastic way for us to partner with our nursing team and show our love for #OneClinical programming, while providing great care to our residents!

“The experience with Ultramist was really remarkable. We had a wound care patient (GV) referred by the Wound Care Nurse, Stephanie. The case of the patient was a diabetic wound on the left heel about 3cm (LxW). There was still significant red and pink soft tissue with callous present upon the initial trial. Stephanie extended help to take off the wound dressing and volunteered to redress the wound after the Ultramist treatment. GV was place in supine lying with the left hip internally rotated to expose the diabetic wound. The ease of the application as the patient was actually tired and asleep during the initial encounter and no pain nor discomfort was noted by GV nor the husband that was observing during the treatment session. The patient was treated 3x a week and only needed 4 total sessions to have the wound care nurse discharge the wound care treatment as it was healed successfully. I believe the Ultramist works and is beneficial for patients with diabetic ulcers.” – Francis Espinola, DPT

JOIN OUR PURPLE COW MOVEMENT AND STAND OUT FROM THE REST OF THE HEALTHCARE HERD! 

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Our organization is committed to dignifying long term care in the eyes of the world one facility at a time, through innovative therapy programs and local leadership.  Ask us how our cutting edge in-house therapy teams are meeting this challenge and shifting the healthcare paradigm!

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Physical Therapist – Julia Temple Health, Physical Therapist – Ukiah Post Acute, Physical Therapist – Catalina, Director of Rehab – River Pointe, and Occupational Therapist – Coral Desert. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.

Intelligent Risk Taking and Ownership at its Best!

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By April Trammel, DOR, CTO, Beacon Harbor, Rockwall, TX

Seven therapists from Beacon Harbor participated in our Pelvic Floor Strengthening Course this past weekend. They are all so motivated and are already implementing these exercises and strategies into their treatment sessions! We can’t wait to see the reflection on our Quality Measures! 

Thank you for this opportunity that you provide for us!

“Love Love this! Beacon Harbor jumping right into this today! We had 60 therapists attend this 2-day, 12.5-hour training in DFW. Let’s not sit on this new knowledge. Please share your WINS on how your team is getting a Pelvic Floor Strengthening/Incontinence Therapy Program off the ground with all of us! Let’s get the flywheel rolling! “

Jon Anderson, DPT, Senior Therapy Resource

Check out these amazing therapy career opportunities at our affiliated facilities: Physical Therapist – Sabino Canyon, Physical Therapist – Channel Islands, Physical Therapist – San Pedro Manor $2K sign on bonus, Speech Therapist – Alta Vista, PT Assistant – Richland Hills, and Physical Therapist – The Villas. Find out more about these amazing jobs and browse our complete list of therapy job opportunities.