Active Listening = Respect and Engagement in Memory Care
Last week, we explored ways to in-service staff on Residents Rights through the lens of person-centered care rather than simply focusing on regulatory compliance. Under Federal law, nursing homes are required to protect and promote the rights of every resident across seventeen broad categories.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a closer look at specific care actions tied to these rights, practices that bring the principles of person-centered care to life during staff training and daily interactions.
Let’s begin with two essential rights:
The right to be treated with respect
The right to participate in activities of choice
Observing Respect in Action: The Role of Active Listening
During your next walk through the memory care neighborhood, take a moment to observe how staff and residents interact. Look for the subtle, yet powerful, evidence of active listening, a skill that forms the cornerstone of respectful communication.
Ask yourself:
Are team members pausing to make eye contact with residents?
Do they meet residents at eye level?
Are their tones calm, patient, and validating?
Do they respond thoughtfully to both verbal and nonverbal cues?
When these skills are present, you can see the essence of respect in motion. Active listening transforms daily care from task-focused routines into meaningful human connection. It allows caregivers to understand and act upon a resident’s needs, feelings, and preferences, even when words may be limited.
Connecting Activities to Identity: Finding the Why
Most Life Enrichment teams conduct interest and pursuit assessments guided by the MDS Section F. These tools provide valuable basic information about what residents enjoy. When we apply active listening, we uncover something deeper: the why behind the interest.
For example, one resident noted on his MDS F0500 that doing things with a group was “somewhat important” to him. Through open-ended questions and patient listening, the Life Enrichment Director learned that he was a veteran who played Poker every Tuesday at the VFW. What he valued most wasn’t the card game itself, it was the camaraderie and conversation that came with it.
By understanding that why, the team reframed his care plan to reflect both his veteran identity and his social needs. The updated plan read:
“Resident is a veteran who enjoys playing cards and socializing with other veterans. He benefits from activities that provide structured conversation and shared experiences.”
This insight also helped staff connect him with other residents who shared similar backgrounds, promoting friendships and a stronger sense of belonging.
The Takeaway
Active listening is more than a communication technique; it’s a way of honoring each resident’s humanity. When we listen carefully and respond actively, we foster trust for individuals living with memory impairment. This is the foundation of respect and engagement in every interaction.
Resources for Inservicing on Active Listening
Here are three excellent resources to help incorporate active listening into staff training sessions:
Verywell Mind – Offers practical guidance and training on active listening techniques.
The Center for Creative Leadership – Provides a free downloadable guide with a one-week active listening skill challenge for leaders and care staff.
Wayne State University – Offers a concise, single-page PDF with four practical tips for becoming a more effective active listener.
#PersonCenteredCare #MemoryCare #ActiveListening #ResidentRights #DignityAndRespect #MeaningfulEngagement #ElderCareExcellence
Leaders: Use Residents Rights Month to Strengthen Your Culture of Care
October is Residents Rights Month, a time to reflect on dignity, choice, and person-centered care. Many nursing home providers use this month to deliver their required in-service training on Residents Rights.
But let’s be honest, it can be challenging to keep this mandatory training engaging and thought-provoking. So, let me offer you a fresh perspective and a challenge.
At a minimum, Federal law specifies that nursing homes must protect and promote the following rights of each resident. These seventeen broad categories ensure that residents have the right to:
1. Be treated with respect.
2. Participate in activities.
3. Be free from discrimination
4. Be free from abuse and neglect
5. Be free from restraints
6. Make complaints without fear
7. Receive proper medical care
8. Have their representatives notified when your health changes
9. Receive information on services and fees in writing before admission
10. Manage their own money or choose someone they trust to do this
11. Get proper privacy, property and living arrangements
12. Spend time with visitors
13. Receive social services
14. Leave the nursing home for visits or when moving out.
15. Have protection against unfair transfer or discharge
16. Form or participate in resident groups like Resident Council
17. Have their family and friends involved in their care.
Would you consider inservicing staff using these Residents Rights to improve your home’s culture of person-centered care? Take these rights and apply the principle of continuous quality improvement which motivates us to take what we do well and apply it across all systems for improvement. Through your Residents Rights inservicing you can inspire your teams to examine your practices asking, “Here’s what we do well, how can we do it even better?”
Here’s an example. Resident Right number 16 ensures that residents have the right to form and participate in Resident Council. Your home has a Resident Council, and you follow this monthly meeting formula:
Review of the minutes + review of next month’s activity calendar + brief discussion of Residents Rights + complaints voiced and shared with the Administrator= follow up and response.
Let’s apply some continuous quality improvement to this formula.
Monthly meeting- is the meeting place private, accessible and have you arranged the room to maximize engagement for those attending? Look at the seating configuration, is it “same old”? Improve it.
Review of the Minutes: Can residents see and hear what is presented? Add large print to your agendas and a microphone to amplify your presenter’s voice.
Present the Activity Calendar. Can you increase opportunities for resident volunteerism by asking residents to lead a few programs, or can you set an improvement goal to increase participation by asking residents to invite others to join a program next month?
Residents Rights review- rather than just reading aloud “the Resident Right of the month”, connect it to a quality improvement project your QAPI team is focusing on. Get feedback during this time from the residents, ask for their input and include this as part of your QAPI team’s qualitative analysis.
Complaints voiced- When familiar complaints arise, can you use them as opportunities to dig deeper? Practice asking the 5 Whys for quality improvement before passing the complaint along.
Follow up and response- Administrators, collaborate with your staff Resident Council liaison to set expectations for fruitful council meetings, teach them the art of the 5 Whys, challenge them to maximize this opportunity for feedback and quality improvement that will amplify your culture of person-centered care.
Your fresh perspective:
By viewing Residents Rights through the lens of continuous quality improvement, you can transform your annual training from routine compliance into an inspiring exercise in person-centered care.
Your challenge:
This month, take a closer look at how you can honor Residents Rights for those living with a dementia and their families. How can you make these rights visible, tangible, and real in daily life?
Follow me at thememorypros.org as we explore practical ways to strengthen both Residents Rights and person-centered practices in dementia care.