Sallie Carlin, Director of Reminiscence Care of Willow Gardens at United Hebrew, 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 modern trade members who’re shaping the way forward for cognitive care throughout behavioral well being, house well being and residential care, hospice and palliative care, senior housing and senior dwelling, and expert nursing. To grow to be a Reminiscence Care Innovation Award winner, a person have to be nominated by their friends. The candidate ought to be a high-performing worker who is aware of put imaginative and prescient into motion, serving as an advocate for these dwelling with memory-related problems and the dedicated professionals who guarantee their well-being.
Carlin 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 be taught extra concerning the Reminiscence Care Innovation Awards program and look at this yr’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?
Carlin: I’ve labored within the senior dwelling trade for greater than 30 years, with the final 10 years serving as Director of Reminiscence Care specializing in resident care, crew improvement, and operational excellence at Willow Gardens Reminiscence Care.
SHN: What drew you to caring for sufferers/residents with cognitive care wants?
Carlin: I used to be drawn to this work as a result of I wished to advocate for individuals who typically can’t advocate for themselves.
Supporting residents with reminiscence loss requires greater than medical talent. It requires empathy, endurance, and respect. I’ve all the time felt referred to as to make sure that people with cognitive impairments are handled with dignity and obtain really customized care that honors their life story.
SHN: For those who might change one factor about cognitive care within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade, what wouldn’t it be?
Carlin: I’d elevate training and emotional assist for caregivers and households. For instance, at Willow Gardens Reminiscence Care at United Hebrew, we co-lead an Alzheimer’s Affiliation caregiver assist group that brings households collectively who share frequent struggles. This program has introduced consolation and important peer assist to households who want recommendation, friendship, and coping expertise to navigate their liked one’s care and the distinctive challenges that dementia brings.
As a result of dementia care is each intellectually and emotionally demanding, our employees want steady, specialised coaching to offer the very best degree of care. Simply as importantly, they want emotional resilience packages and psychological well being assets to maintain them on this work. By investing in our groups, we improve care high quality and create an atmosphere the place each residents and caregivers can thrive.
SHN: For those who had a crystal ball, what do you suppose will most affect your skill to offer cognitive care within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade within the subsequent 5 years?
Carlin: Securing constant monetary and coverage assist for reminiscence care packages might be vital. The necessity for these companies is rising quickly, however funding and reimbursement constructions haven’t stored tempo.
As our inhabitants ages, we should be sure that specialised reminiscence care stays each accessible and sustainable. Funding — whether or not from public or non-public sectors — will make all of the distinction in increasing high-quality, person-centered care.
SHN: For those who might describe cognitive care within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade in a single phrase, what wouldn’t it be and why?
Carlin: Compassion. It’s the muse of all the pieces we do.
To really join with somebody dwelling with cognitive impairment, you have to strategy them with compassion — for who they’re, for the place they’re of their journey, and for the relations strolling alongside them.
SHN: What’s been the most important lesson you will have realized all through your profession?
Carlin: At all times lead with empathy. Be current to your caregivers and households. The relationships you construct with residents, employees, and family members are what maintain you and outline the tradition of care.
SHN: For those who might give your self recommendation on the primary day within the reminiscence care, senior housing & senior dwelling trade, what wouldn’t it be and why?
Carlin: Meet every particular person the place they’re. Don’t attempt to pull them into your world — step into theirs. By getting into their actuality with openness and respect, you possibly can join on a human degree that brings consolation, pleasure, and belief.
SHN: In your opinion, what qualities ought to all Reminiscence Care Innovation Award winners possess?
Carlin: True innovators in reminiscence care lead with coronary heart. They follow person-centered care, see past the prognosis, and perceive that it takes a village — a coordinated, compassionate, and dedicated crew — to assist each particular person and household affected by cognitive impairment.
