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Acknowledgement of Scott Whitley |
| October 14th, 2008 under Health, Household, Inspiring Stories, Mental Health, News, Residents. [ Comments: none ]
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I applaud Ryn Gargulinski of the Tucson Citizen (Arizona) for covering the story of Scott Whitley. So often our mentally ill citizens only appear in the newspaper when they have committed a crime. This year’s recipient of the 3rd annual Daniel Moreno Recovery Award, is Scott Whitley. He’ll receive his award on Friday at the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Southern Arizona’s 25th anniversary dinner.
Daniel Moreno was diagnosed as bipolar in 1989. He then spent the next 17 years in what he called a roller coaster hell. The illness led him to a suicide attempt in 2005. Today his recovery is doing so well he will be proudly accepting his award and acknowledgment for the hard work he’s done. Whitley credits his recovery to a combination of four factors: support, education, hope and medication.
His support comes from peer groups, friends and NAMISA ( National Alliance on Mental Illness of Southern Arizona). The education comes through NAMISA and reading one of his favorite authors, bipolar psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jameson. It took time to discover the right combination of medications that worked best for Scott.
Before his successfull recovery he was hospitalized, couldn’t keep a job, was unable to maintain a relationship, and was estranged from his mother. That is all changed for Scott Whitley. He was even able to be his mother’s caregiver before her death.
As group home support staff we are the ones that can advocate for our residents to make sure they are provided with every opportunity to be successful in living with any mental illness that they have. In the words of Scott Whitley “It’s just like diabetes or high blood pressure, It’s an illness, not a character flaw.” Our residents can not only live successfully with their mental illness diagnosis, they can help others like Scott has, with group home support staff’s help.
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Behavior Health Data Sheets |
| July 5th, 2008 under Mental Health, Paperwork, Residents, Support Staff. [ Comments: none ]
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Behavior data sheets are used to track information about group home residents. Data sheets are an essential component of behavior health treatment plans. All group home support staff should make filling out the data sheets accurately a priority.
The reasons this is important:
- Used to develop behavior treatment plans
- Provide history and information regarding behaviors
- Required for monitoring residents who are receiving certain medications
- Evaluates effectiveness of plan
- Effects group home residents quality of life
- Track progress or lack of progress
Group home support staff should check for the following when filling out behavior health data sheets:
- Name is printed with initials for reference
- Data is on correct day
- Numbers are easy to read (close “0″’s so they doesn’t look like a 6 or 8 and close “9″’s so they don’t look like a 4)
- All spaces are filled in
- Initials are in appropriate spaces
- Notes are written regarding behaviors as needed
- Totals are correct
With accurate information on behavior health data sheets, the group home residents can get behavior treatment plans that will effectively help them to reach their goals.
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New Uses for Common Items |
| June 30th, 2008 under Health. [ Comments: none ]
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I haven’t tried all of these, but it could be worth checking out these home remedies for group home residents. It can be less expensive than some over-the-counter remedies and help stretch group home budgets.
- Burns-use Colgate toothpaste as a salve
- Headache-drink 2 glasses of Gatorade
- Sunburn-apply Noxema cold cream
- Stuffed nose-chew a couple peppermint Altoids
- Upset stomach-eat peppermint candy or drink peppermint tea
- Achy muscles from the flu-mix 1 Tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Allow to stand for 30 minutes then use as message oil on achy muscles
- Sore throat-mix 1/4 cup vinegar with 1/4 cup honey. Take 1 tablespoon six times per day.
- Urinary tract infections-dissolve two tablets of Alka-Seltzer (do not use “plus cold medicine” ) in a glass of water and drink at the first signs of urinary tract infections
- Skin blemishes-cover blemish with a dab of honey and place a band-aid on top of it. This works overnight
- Toenail Fungus-soak toes in Listerine and then rinse
- Foot odor-soak feet in Listerine and then rinse
Of course group home support staff should check with primary care physicians when treating medical conditions with alternative methods.
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