Troubleshooting
- Problem: The items are locked up in a cupboard so residents, family and staff cannot access them.
Solution: Develop a way to display items and make sure it is located in areas where residents congregate. (During the study, small wire rolling carts with four shelves were used so items were visible and the entire cart could be rolled over to a group of residents.) - Problem: Items, such as books, are being destroyed very quickly.
Solution: Reinforce, bound, tape or laminated pages to prevent them from being torn. If problem continues, try to figure out where and what time of day they might be being vandalized. (In the study, we found it was night staff pilfering and vandalizing items. Once we provided training sessions to staff on every shift, the problem disappeared.) - Problem: The items volunteers make don't follow the tested patterns and instructions from the manual.
Solution: Do not use items that don't follow the research-tested protocols. They may not be safe for residents with dementia. Re-instruct volunteers that each pattern in the manual was safety tested and should be followed exactly in the future.
