Welcome
Thank you for taking time to visit my web site. I assume you are here to learn about me, and my consulting and speaking services, view resume. So, on one brief page I will try to give you a taste of who I am and what I do for work. Over 30 years ago I stepped into my first nursing facility in Ithaca New York never intending to stay at the job very long. Children’s issues were my passion as I had four children of my own and had been a foster mother for many others. Very quickly however, I fell in love with the elderly, especially those with dementia. That love affair has continued and shows no signs of slowing down although I guess I could be considered elderly myself. Not that anyone would dare to say it to my face!
Each year I am amazed and excited by the possibilities of improving life for our residents living either in a nursing facility or in assisted living communities. The “culture change” movement led by the Pioneer Network has gradually woven its concepts of a “culture of aging that is life-affirming, satisfying, humane and meaningful” into the language of most long-term care facilities and is now part of the survey process. One of my latest presentations is how to bring culture change to the more “mature” nursing facilities and to do it on a budget.
See presentations.
The Magic Tape Recorder
After spending most of my career working for large long-term care corporations offering operating skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities, I am now a private consultant, speaker and author. I moved to Florida, near Tampa for the majority of the year and also live in Prague, Czech Republic during the summer months.
in 2007 I became an author. My first book was written one for children. “The Magic Tape Recorder” is based on my experience teaching elementary school children how they can be “helpers” to people with memory loss and other problems related to aging like poor vision and hearing. The book was beautifully illustrated by a Czech artist Inka Delevova. Inka speaks no English and I speak no Czech so this was a very interesting collaboration to say the least! “
Namaste Care
The second book “The End of Life Namaste Care Program for People with Dementia” was published by Health Professions Press. It is a “how to” book on a program I developed for nursing home residents with advanced dementia. Since the book was published, I have also implemented it in assisted living communities and a hospice program.
Namaste Care is the third program I have developed using the concept of “continuous meaningful activities” that helps people with memory loss maintain a measure of quality to their lives. “The Memory Enhancement Program” was developed for residents with mild memory loss who reside in assisted living communities while “The Club” focuses on residents in the more moderate stage of a dementing illness. This program has been successfully implemented in nursing facilities or assisted living communities with dementia programs.
It has been and continues to be a very exciting and ever-changing career that I love. Please feel free to “talk” to me at joycesimard@earthlink.net.
Thank you for the visit,
Joyce