Megan Deaton, Reminiscence Care Program Supervisor at Neighborhood First Options, has been named a 2025 Reminiscence Care Innovation Award winner by Senior Housing Information.
The Reminiscence Care Innovation Awards program is designed to acknowledge passionate and progressive trade members who’re shaping the way forward for cognitive care throughout behavioral well being, dwelling well being and residential care, hospice and palliative care, senior housing and senior dwelling, and expert nursing. To change into a Reminiscence Care Innovation Award winner, a person should be nominated by their friends. The candidate ought to be a high-performing worker who is aware of methods to put imaginative and prescient into motion, serving as an advocate for these dwelling with memory-related issues and the dedicated professionals who guarantee their well-being.
Deaton sat down with Senior Housing Information to share her journey caring for sufferers and residents with cognitive care wants, her ideas on the way forward for cognitive care in senior housing & senior dwelling, and far more. To study extra concerning the Reminiscence Care Innovation Awards program and look at this 12 months’s winners, go to https://innovation.memorycarebusiness.com/.
SHN: How lengthy have you ever been part of the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade?
Deaton: I began my profession as an STNA in 2002, working my manner by means of nursing college to change into an LPN and labored in Senior dwelling for the final 23 years.
SHN: What drew you to caring for sufferers/residents with cognitive care wants?
Deaton: It began with my grandpa. Watching somebody I cherished so deeply face the challenges of reminiscence loss modified me. It opened my coronary heart to the energy and vulnerability that include this stage of life. I noticed firsthand how moments of connection – holding a hand, sharing a smile, or listening to a well-recognized tune – may carry consolation and spark recognition even when phrases had been misplaced.
That have ignited one thing in me. It made me need to be a part of creating these moments for others, to make sure that each particular person dwelling with cognitive modifications is handled with dignity, compassion, and goal. What drew me in then continues to drive me now – figuring out that, at the same time as recollections fade, the center nonetheless remembers methods to really feel cherished and to assist proceed their story.
SHN: Should you may change one factor about cognitive care within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade, what would it not be?
Deaton: If I may change one factor, it might be how we see these dwelling with cognitive modifications. Too typically, the main target is on what has been misplaced as an alternative of what nonetheless stays. I want our trade would shift from a mindset of managing signs to one in all nurturing experiences, creating environments that honor individuality, awaken the senses, and convey real pleasure into on a regular basis moments.
Cognitive care ought to by no means be about merely holding somebody protected. It ought to be about serving to them really feel alive. Each resident deserves alternatives to attach, to belong, and to be understood in ways in which transcend phrases. After we see the particular person earlier than the analysis, we create not simply care, however which means.
SHN: Should you had a crystal ball, what do you assume will most influence your potential to supply cognitive care within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade within the subsequent 5 years?
Deaton: If I had a crystal ball, I consider the way forward for cognitive care will likely be formed by how effectively we stability innovation with human connection. Expertise will proceed to advance, serving to us higher perceive behaviors, personalize care, and assist our groups, however the true distinction will come from how we use it to strengthen relationships, not exchange them.
As a nurse and somebody who’s walked this journey with my very own grandpa, I’ve realized that probably the most highly effective instruments in care are nonetheless compassion, creativity, and presence. Over the subsequent 5 years, I see our trade shifting towards extra sensory-rich, emotionally clever environments that honor every particular person’s story. The communities that succeed will likely be people who see past the analysis and perceive each resident has a reputation, a previous, and a narrative nonetheless to inform. After we see the particular person as an alternative of the analysis, we open the door to connection, which means, and real care.
SHN: Should you may describe cognitive care within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade in a single phrase, what would it not be and why?
Deaton: Human.
Reminiscence care is about connection, not charts, not schedules, however folks. It’s about seeing the human being behind the analysis, recognizing their story, their feelings, and their must belong. Each second of care is a chance to honor who they’re and remind them that they nonetheless matter. After we method reminiscence care with humanity first, all the things else – compassion, dignity, and pleasure – will comply with.
SHN: What’s been the largest lesson you’ve realized all through your profession?
Deaton: The most important lesson I’ve realized is that success on this discipline isn’t measured by titles or outcomes; it’s measured in moments. It’s within the smile of a resident who hasn’t spoken all day, the reduction on a member of the family’s face once they see their cherished one at peace, or the pleasure of a group member who feels they’ve made a distinction.
I’ve realized that once we decelerate lengthy sufficient to really see the particular person in entrance of us, their historical past, their coronary heart, and their humanity, all the things modifications. Care turns into connection, duties change into goal and day by day turns into a chance to revive dignity, one interplay at a time.
SHN: Should you may give your self recommendation on the primary day within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade, what would it not be and why?
Deaton: I’d inform myself to decelerate and really feel each second, the enjoyment, the heartbreak, the laughter and the teachings as a result of they’re all a part of one thing larger than you notice. On this discipline, it’s straightforward to get caught up in duties and schedules, however the true magic occurs within the in-between moments; when a resident reaches in your hand, when a member of the family trusts you with their cherished one, while you see a spark of recognition in somebody’s eyes.
I’d remind myself that this work will change you in the very best methods. It would train you persistence, perspective, and the ability of presence. You’ll study that even on the toughest days, love and connection are what really matter. And sometime, you’ll look again and notice that you just didn’t simply discover a profession you discovered your calling.
SHN: In your opinion, what qualities ought to all Reminiscence Care Innovation Award winners possess?
Deaton: To me, anybody acknowledged for innovation in reminiscence care ought to lead with coronary heart first. It takes compassion, creativity, and a deep understanding that each particular person we take care of has a narrative value honoring.
Innovation isn’t all the time about huge modifications or fancy packages. It’s about having the braveness to problem what’s all the time been achieved, and the creativeness to reimagine what care can appear like. The perfect leaders on this discipline are those who by no means lose sight of why they began. As a result of at its core, reminiscence care innovation isn’t about altering methods, it’s about altering lives.
