Alabama Nursing
Home Association
4156 Carmichael Road
Montgomery, AL 36106
Phone: 334-271-6214
Fax: 334-244-6509
Email: info@anha.org
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Alabama's Best Practices ProgramCall for Nominations for 2010 Alabama's Best Practices Program"Celebrating 16 Years of Innovative Choices: Simple Solutions to Common Challenges" Each day, long term care nursing facilities across the state and nation face common challenges in providing residents with the highest quality of care. The Alabama’s Best Practices Steering Committee invites facilities statewide to identify and nominate their most innovative and “Best Practice” in this exciting program! Nursing facilities have common challenges, just as any other group. Some of these solutions may seem simple, as shown by so many of the past presentations you still hear about today. Sometimes people call an idea “simple” because it seems easy to do or is inexpensive. We invite you to identify interventions which you would describe as “Innovative Choices: Simple Solutions for Common Challenges." Please downland the nomination form for more information. 2010 Alabama's Best Practices Nomination Form 2009 Alabama's Best Practices Presenters AnnouncedEight Facilities Have Developed Innovative Approaches to Resident Care and Quality of Life MONTGOMERY - Eight Alabama nursing homes will be honored for developing creative techniques and implementing innovative practices to improve resident care. Those facilities will present their initiatives at the 16th annual Alabama’s Best Practices Program on August 13th in Birmingham. The Alabama nursing homes chosen to present their “Best Practice” are: “Validation If You Please" - Cherokee County Nursing Home - Centre: Home-like stations with different sets of activities in the Alzheimer’s unit provide residents with familiar work settings and can serve as behavioral intervention tools “Runaway Gang” - Southland Nursing Home - Marion: Social driven residents are given a breath of fresh air by participating in events outside of the nursing home which gives them a sense of purpose and accomplishment “July 4th Celebration” - Crossville Health & Rehabilitation - Crossville: Annual July 4th celebration has quickly become one of the largest events in the surrounding area and promotes a positive image of the nursing home to the community “Once We Get Them...We Keep Them” - Piedmont Health Care Center - Piedmont: Dramatically reduced nursing staff turnover by implementing a number of changes including having nursing staff assigned to specific residents “Word Bowl” - Crowne Health Care of Montgomery - Montgomery: Encourages exercising the mind by having teams of therapy and activities residents spell smaller words from one large word “I’ve Been Everywhere” - TLC Nursing Center - Oneonta: “Vacations” where residents experience a famous destination without leaving the facility has increased participation in activity programs “Hand in Hand - UTI Prevention” - Hanceville Nursing & Rehab - Hanceville: Seeks to improve a resident’s quality of life by reducing the number of urinary tract infections and training staff on how to prevent infections “Montessori Dementia Management" - Civic Center Health & Rehabilitation - Birmingham: Creates and presents activities and interventions based upon the teaching methods of Maria Montessori to assist dementia patients in becoming as independent as possible The Best Practices program is chaired by Pam Penland, a nursing home owner from Ashville, Alabama. According to Penland, “These presenters cover a wide range of topics from mental health to social skills to physical activity. While they address very different needs, each idea shares the common goal of improving the lives of nursing home residents. Hopefully, many of these innovative programs and ideas can be emulated in nursing homes across Alabama.” Best Practices was created by the Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) in 1994 with cooperation from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The program recognizes nursing homes for innovative ways of improving residents’ quality of life and/or quality of care. The concepts shared have touched and improved the lives of countless hundreds of Alabama’s nursing home residents. “Alabama nursing homes grow and improve by learning from and implementing the success stories enjoyed by others,” ANHA Executive Director Louis Cottrell said. “The Best Practices program fosters idea sharing among facilities on many topics from resident activities to staff retention to Alzheimer’s care.” In addition to the facility presentations, the event will honor over 100 nursing home employees for their exceptional contributions to long-term care.
2008 Alabama Nursing Home Best Practices Presenters AnnouncedSix Facilities Have Developed Innovative Approaches to Resident Care and Quality of Life
Photo Gallery: 2008 Alabama's Best Practices MONTGOMERY – Six Alabama nursing homes were honored for developing creative techniques and implementing innovative practices to improve resident care. The facilities presented their initiatives at the 15th annual Alabama's Best Practices Program on August 14 at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center in Birmingham. The Alabama nursing homes chosen to present their “Best Practice” are: “Real Volleyball” – Southland Nursing Home, Marion
Best Practices was created by the Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA) in 1994 with cooperation from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The program recognizes nursing homes for innovative ways of improving residents’ quality of life and/or quality of care. The concepts shared have touched and improved the lives of countless hundreds of Alabama’s nursing home residents. The Best Practices Program is chaired by Pam Penland, a nursing home owner from Ashville, Alabama. According to Penland, “Many of the programs and ideas discussed during Best Practices have been emulated in nursing homes across Alabama and the nation. New and innovative ideas improve the lives of residents, and that is our ultimate goal.” Alabama was the third state in the nation to create a Best Practices program, only behind New York and California. “The Best Practices program fosters the sharing of ideas among facilities from things such as residents’ rights to improving the quality of care to administrative procedures,” ANHA Executive Director Louis Cottrell said. “Alabama nursing homes grow and learn by capitalizing on the successes enjoyed by others.” Almost 500 people, representing nursing homes from across the state attended the Best Practices Program. The event also honored several Certified Nursing Assistants for their contributions to long-term care. Alabama's Best Practices: An OverviewProgram Contact: Pam Penland What is the Alabama Best Practices Program? Alabama's Best Practices is back! The funding for this program was stopped almost three years ago, but thanks to the financial support of the Alabama Nursing Home Association and the Alabama Department of Public Health, this project designed to help the long-term care industry share information is back and running. The Alabama's Best Practices Conference is a one-day event filled with opportunities for nursing homes to learn from one another. It allows nursing homes throughout the state of Alabama, to not only come up with new ideas to improve their facilities, but to share what works and what doesn't with other facilities in the state. To be selected as one of the presenters in this innovative long-term care program is a great honor. Winners are chosen by individuals of our 14 member Professional Review Panel. Six finalist give their presentations and share information on what has worked for them, through experience. There is something to be learned at this conference, for all homes. Improving the quality of care given to our residents and making our communities great places to live and work, are both ongoing processes. Our abilities to learn and our desires to be the best should never stop. Alabama's Best Practice Conference is designed to be a way to share ideas and information in the minds of people with different interests, educational backgrounds, ages, and cultures. From the nursing assistant to the administrator, from review panelists to potential sponsors, Best Practices communicates concepts that have already been proven to be effective. By attending this event, CEU credits can be earned. How Did Alabama’s Best Practices Begin? During 1993, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) explored the concept of best practices as developed in New York in 1989. A proposal for Alabama’s Best Practices (BP) was completed in November 1993, and after preliminary discussion, the proposal was presented to the Alabama Nursing Home Association (ANHA), which represents over 98% of Alabama’s facilities. A consensus was reached on program design and functions and implementation began in March 1994 with the ADPH’s designation of a program Director and ANHA’s designation of a chairperson for the BP Steering Committee. The BP Director and Steering Committee Chairperson and two other representatives observed a New York Best Practice Conference in May 1994. With the benefit of these observations and the advice shared by New York, operational plans for Alabama’s Best Practices were laid. Alabama became the third state in the nation behind New York and California, to begin a Best Practices Program. The first Best Practice nomination was received on September 29, 1994. What is a Best Practice? A best practice is any intervention a nursing home has developed which improves residents’ lives or living conditions. It can be drawn from any care area of residents’ lives, and is directed toward quality of life. Best Practices (BP) fosters cooperative efforts that enhance excellence and innovation in resident care, as well as single facility or multi-facility initiatives that may involve residents and staff as well as the civic, religious and regulatory communities. A BP may involve residents’ rights, provision of care, or administrative practices which result in improved care. The BP concept is to explore alternative care models which have proven effective for residents in Alabama nursing homes. The Alabama’s Best Practices Program Judging Process Each year beginning in the fall the Best Practices Steering Committee meets to determine the conference date and location, establish a time line for planning/coordinating the Best Practice Conference and approve the nomination packet. The Best Practices Steering Committee is made up of appointed members from each of the nine regions of the Alabama Nursing Home Association and appointments from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The Best Practices (BP) Director is selected by the Best Practices Steering Committee. From the direction of the Steering Committee, the BP Director solicits and begins to promote the Best Practices Program. The Best Practices Director meets with all the regions and contacts as many facilities as possible soliciting them to enter nominations for innovative programs that their facility uses to promote excellence in the care and life of our Alabama nursing home residents. Nominations are officially solicited between fall and late winter with the deadline for nomination set in early Spring. The Best Practices Steering Committee chooses a Professional Panel (usually 5 – 9) to review the nominations. Blind nominations are submitted to the Professional Review Panel. Nominations are judged on eleven criteria:
Each of these criteria are judged on a scale of 1 – 4. The highest possible being 4. Once these criteria are judged the scores are added together. The judge then adds up to 4 points based on the innovation of the best practice. The total becomes the score from the judge on that Best Practice. This procedure is followed for every nomination. The entire book of blind nominations is mailed to the Association office by the judge. The Association office tallies all of the scores by the judges. The Association then matches the blind nominations with the facility information. The top six nominations with the highest scores are determined the presenters. 2007 Alabama's Best Practices Program
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