Success Stories

M. K was struggling to hold onto some sense of independence within the assisted living facility. As a “Violet”, She was not bathing often enough since she couldn’t keep track of her frequency and would insist to staff that she was fine. Through structuring her day and activities in a way that gave her the ability to acknowledge a written bathing schedule with staff assistance, and specific setup and approach, she was able to regain a sense of control and hygiene was no longer a concern. She expressed relief and gratitude.

Mr. L struggled with a severe hearing loss and staff was struggling to communicate effectively with him. Their gesturing and pointing only added to his confusion. Using “Botes Analysis of Functional Cognition”, The OT adapted his environment using simple directional signs and a white board for effective communication. He is now cooperative with staff written requests in an appropriate simple form for basic ADLs and is able to locate his own room, bathroom and closet with confidence.

After receiving OT cognitive staging using the “Botes Analysis of Functional cognition” and arriving at the Memory Bouquet level of “Lily”, Mr. C is now demonstrating significant improvement with short term memory skills, and daily orientation with calendar use. Now he manages appointments and other events confidently. He actively journals daily and engages in downloaded brain exercise apps to maximize his brain activity and function. He and his wife are extremely pleased with his improvements.

An OT working with residents in an ALF, was able to coordinate a meaningful time of cookie decorating involving patients and staff. Through the use of the “Memory Bouquet” she assessed residents’ abilities and therefore provided appropriate setup for each resident to engage successfully. It was time of fun and reminiscence for everyone!

Staff at an ALF reported that Ms. G, a “Rose” was not eating well. Even when her meal was something she normally loved, she would sit through lunch without eating a bite unless a caregiver fed her. Through “Memory Bouquet” skills implementation, the OT used bright red color contrasting paper plate, and verbal and tactile cues to aid Ms. G in attending to eating. Through staff training in initial hand over hand assist, she is now able to feed herself half of her meal before needing redirection. She is eating more and regaining weight.

Our OT was able to coordinate ongoing appropriate activity centers for one ALF with many variations in Memory Bouquet skill levels. Presenting the activity at the correct level allowed her to have a “Violet” and a “Rose” attentively engaged and finding joy through arranging silk flowers into containers for nearly 30 minutes- joining Daisies and Lilies at the same task! Lap trays enabled many residents to color a “mandala” or play card games combatting isolation during Covid.

Ms. A travels between daughters, spending 3 months with each. Upon arrival at daughter 1, she presented as a Rose, losing weight, unable to sit unsupported, lethargic and with little communication skills. The family was taught how to enter into her space, how to present objects in her environment, how to approach and connect with her with one step verbal cues, demonstration and tactile/hand-over-hand assistance. She is now functioning as a high Violet with regained verbal skills, able to assist with cooking, washing dishes and even dancing the Salsa with her son-in-law. She no longer needs tactile cues and she has also gained 12 lbs back! (We have family permission to share this wonderful story)

A Director of nursing and dining director of an 800 bed campus states that the communication between healthcare staff and dining staff has improved using the “Memory Bouquet” as their platform. They have also observed increased retention of dining staff and improved interaction with residents after Botes training.

One Executive Director 150 bed ALF states that they were able to retain all of their night shift staff for one year even through the Covid epidemic. They believe that this is largely due to Botes training empowering their staff toward meaningful relationship and success with the residents.

Home health sales person reported successful connection in supporting a person on a “Violet” level with hydration during an event. As a result of Botes training, she knew how to navigate this lady’s refusal to drink in order to successfully elicit her drinking a full cup of water. This highlights the need of knowledge on why our persons stay dehydrated.