Lewis Hopkins is an
associate director of program development - residential. Today he shares with
us some things he noticed as he drove past a home where he knew staff supported
people – and how one small change influenced bigger change.
Sometimes it is easier to see things that may need to
change, from the outside, and I had the opportunity to look into the window. I
noticed that when I drove by, it was always staff members who were outside
grilling, not the people who lived there. It seemed like an easy fix toward
giving ownership back to the folks who lived there. I have to be honest. I
did not know that it was going to lead to everything that came after that.
It took a year or so and a lot of work from everyone
involved – including nurses, the quality assistance department, support from my
supervisors, dietitians, staff, families and the individuals. In the
beginning there was a lot of push back maybe due to fear or just change, or
maybe both, but with each hurdle we got over, the confidence grew with all
involved and it began to open more doors for everyone. Before you knew it
people where doing more and more on their own and it became a challenge among
each other. The families saw the happiness that independence could
bring to someone and they started looking at things differently.
It was great to be part of a movement like this and to see
the hard work and dedication pay off. But, at the end of the day, the
most important thing that came out of this was to see voices being heard and people
taking ownership of their own lives. And to think it all came from a grill.
If someone had asked me what I was going to focus on, and
the answer had been the grill, some people may have looked at me like I was
crazy. So the next time someone asks you what your plan is, it does not have to
be this huge mind-blowing idea, it can be something small that turns out to be
much more than just a grill.
