What is it like to be unable to move without setting off a personal body alarm? How painful and lonely is it to sit in a wheelchair for hours on end? How does it feel to be incontinent in front of others?

These are challenges that residents in long-term care can face on a daily basis. Even the most caring staff can fail to appreciate their effects. As an administrator struggling to jump-start culture change in her residential care community, Leslie Pedtke created a program that builds staff empathy for residents’ experiences by having them simulate a diagnosis and live alongside residents. Staff experience the same care as the residents and face similar daily challenges. The program is designed to help care staff gain a deeper understanding of the day-to-day challenges faced by the residents in their care, and learn the value of compassionate, person-centered care practices. The lessons learned create more compassionate caregivers, improve care practices, and enhance well-being for both staff and residents.

Learn how to implement this program in What Living as a Resident Can Teach Long-Term Care Staff.

Experiencing life as a resident promotes empathy and changes staff attitudes about the importance of person-centered care practices.

What Living as a Resident C… by Health Professions Press

“…a hopeful and encouraging instructional guide and reference that will inspire the achievement of truly person-centered care.”

—Mary Cowper, Midwest Book Review

“What a gift we’ve been given by Leslie Pedtke…. Promotion of continence, walking and decision-making/choice, and replacing alarms with better practices not only enhance life for persons living and staying in long-term care communities but also compliance with the new CMS requirements, which have greater focus on person-centered care than ever before.

—Carmen Bowman, MHS, BSW, Regulator turned Educator, Edu-Catering: Catering Education for Compliance and Culture Change

Leslie Pedtke, L.N.H.A., is Educator for Quality Improvement for King Management Company. She worked as Administrator of Aviston Countryside Manor from 1994 until 2017. Through her experience of more than 20 years, she has built a foundation of person-directed care at Aviston as well as at King Management’s other long-term care and assisted living communities.

During her time as administrator, Aviston Countryside Manor was featured in the 2013 spring/summer LTC Today (“Aviston Staff Walk in the Residents’ Shoes”); the March 2012 issue of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News (“You’re Hired”); the spring 2011 LTC Today (“Consistent Assignments”); the April 2010 issue of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News (“Empathy Crash Course”); and the Health Care Cost Insitute’s (HCCI) Members Only newsletter for the intergenerational program Bringing Residents’ Stories to Life. She was named one of HCCI’s 2010 Heroes in Long-Term Care.

Leslie is currently Board President of the Illinois Pioneer Coalition, a Professional Educator for the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Missouri Chapter, and national presenter on the topics of learning empathy, best hiring practices, eliminating restraints, and decreasing falls. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a B.A. in Speech Communication.

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