By Scott Riddle, President & CEO, Walker Methodist

(Editor’s Note:  This article is the response to the proceeding article by Kathy Hagen on her experience with some recent health problems.  Joyce Scanlan, president of our Seniors Division, and I met with Scott Riddle to discuss the issues raised by Kathy.  As this article reflects, the meeting was very fruitful and Joyce will be working with the entire Walker Methodist organization, which operates independent living, assisted living, memory care, transitional care, and long-term care, to educate the staff about blindness and the varying abilities and experiences of blind people.)

It's impossible to capture what people go through when their lives change dramatically in a short period.  Kathy's account of her and Chernah’s experience is an example of the type of struggles we see with many of our residents at Walker Methodist Health Center (WMHC).  Each set of circumstances is unique and there are many different resources people draw on when their "apple cart is upset" as Kathy so clearly puts it.

It is a core belief at WMHC that it is in everyone's best interest that people get the highest level of care.  We certainly strive to make that happen — every day and in every interaction.  And most of the time we succeed.  When we fall short in any way, we immediately turn our attention to ways to correct problems and improve ongoing care. 

So when Kathy observed that some aspects of our care could benefit from a better understanding of what it's like to live with vision loss or impairment, we took her suggestions to heart.  We are using Kathy's experience to help train our employees in a better understanding of what nursing care looks like from the perspective of a person with vision impairment.  And using that perspective to adapt our standards of care in a way that each resident — no matter what their circumstances — feels that they are getting the best possible care. 

This is a familiar concept for us.  All staff who provide care to residents with Parkinson's receive specialized training (the TULIPS program) through the Struthers Network.  We also educate all staff who provide care to residents with dementia or delirium in our specialized Memory Care training (as featured on tpt segment on Late Life).  This in addition to the ongoing training all staff receive to ensure we continue to provide the high level of skilled-nursing care people expect from us. 

We continue to wish Kathy and Chernah all the best despite difficult circumstances, and gratefully acknowledge their contribution to helping make Walker Methodist a better place to both receive care and provide care through better training.  As Kathy and Chernah are learning to adapt to their new situation, we at Walker are committed to doing the same, learning to adapt how we serve, in order to serve better.