Senior care communities are struggling to hire and keep staff, and many are relying on overtime to fill the gaps. So why do people who care about older adults sometimes choose to walk away? In this episode, Teepa and Greg look at what the job often feels like from the inside: stretched shifts, extra residents added without notice, little preparation for supporting people living with brain change, and not being heard by leadership. Teepa then names three changes that can help team members stay: building real skills for connecting with people, not just completing tasks; treating every staff member as a valued, respected part of the team; and protecting time off so care partners can rest and have a life outside of work.

If your team is feeling the strain of turnover, overtime, or burnout, the PAC Champion Courses are a practical place to start. These short, skill-focused trainings help staff move beyond the task list and build a shared approach for reading the person in front of them, responding with support, and working as a connected team. Explore the Champion Courses as an option for your team.

A headline claiming up to 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by modifying lifestyle factors sounds hopeful, but Greg and Teepa dig into why it can also be misleading and even harmful. They explain how prevention framing can slide into shaming and blaming a person for brain change that was likely underway long before anyone noticed. Instead, Teepa offers a harm reduction approach that meets people where they are and supports the life they actually want, rather than trying to perfectly follow restrictive guidelines.
Learn more at www.teepasnow.com.

Some of the most common phrases in dementia care, like don't you remember and calm down, often seem to be some of the most unhelpful. Greg and Teepa unpack why these phrases often spark arguments and suggest replacing them with a simple, repeatable pattern: reflect back what the person said, offer information, then gently initiate a change of direction so the conversation doesn't loop.

Learn more at teepasnow.com.