Shownotes
Frontline Initiative author LeAnn Bieber talks about how using tools such as a Health Care Person-Centered Profile and a one-page description can make a positive difference in how a medical appointment can go for everyone.
Read LeAnn's story: The Key to Successful Health Care Appointments through One-page Descriptions
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Transcripts
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;35;13
Chet Tschetter
Hi, my name is Chet Tschetter, and I'll be your host for a closer look, where we'll explore the most current and relevant topics covered in frontline initiative, which is a magazine produced by the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals in partnership with the University of Minnesota's Institute of Community Integration. If you're wondering what Frontline initiative is all about, it's about the work that direct support professionals do on a day to day basis as they support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
00;00;35;16 - 00;00;49;03
Chet Tschetter
I'll be talking to authors and taking a closer look at current practices, tools, and resources. So buckle up and let's hear what the authors have to say.
00;00;49;05 - 00;01;13;29
Chet Tschetter
Today, I'm going to be talking to LeAnn Bieber, who wrote an article called The Key to Successful Health Care Appointments through one page descriptions. It was published in Frontline Initiative's issue called Direct Support Professionals Supporting People's Health and Wellness. Leanne is going to talk about how tools such as a health care person send her profile, and a one page description can make it a medical appointment.
00;01;13;29 - 00;01;40;03
Chet Tschetter
Go better for everybody. So let's get started. Today my guest is LeAnn Bieber from Byron, Minnesota. We asked her to write an article for frontline because of her experience as a person centered planning instructor who's also used the Covid 19 health passport with her own daughter, Melissa. Welcome, Leanne. We're so happy to have you here today for our very first podcast.
00;01;40;05 - 00;01;42;08
LeAnn Bieber
Thank you. I'm happy to be here.
00;01;42;10 - 00;01;46;24
Chet Tschetter
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
00;01;46;27 - 00;02;26;15
LeAnn Bieber
I, like you, said I have a daughter, Melissa, who is 24 years old and has been labeled with down syndrome. She's my pride and joy. She lives with us at home, and, really, that's that's my main job. Is taking care of her and helping her to be all she wants to be. I also am a person centered thinking trainer and planner and work with a lot of person centered processes to help people, better their lives or get their communication to other people what they're looking for.
00;02;26;17 - 00;02;48;17
LeAnn Bieber
I do a lot of my work through my job at Olmsted County. And then work with providers on a regular basis to see what we can do to help the people that they're supporting, help them as an agency to support better, and just really get the word out there about person centered practices.
00;02;48;19 - 00;03;15;08
Chet Tschetter
That sounds great. Leanne, can you tell us about the tools in the article that you wrote and why they're so helpful for everyone involved in a medical appointments? We know that medical appointments can be extremely anxiety driven and difficult for many people. But why is it so important, for, like your daughter and others who might need that extra support?
00;03;15;10 - 00;03;43;05
LeAnn Bieber
Yeah, absolutely. The first impressions are always so important with anybody and anywhere you are. The first impression that you give and many times when someone has a label or, a diagnosis of some sort, that is the first thing that people hear about somebody, and it really gives that whole medical version, of who that person is, where you're missing, who the person really is, and you're missing really?
00;03;43;05 - 00;04;14;22
LeAnn Bieber
How? A person wants to be supported. The one page description is a great way to, help get someone the information. Give someone the information that they're looking for. To start that small talk. In any situation. So, for instance, a doctor wants to make a person feel more comfortable as they start talking with them so that they can get the information that they need as quickly as possible and move forward.
00;04;14;24 - 00;04;45;04
LeAnn Bieber
When you have somebody gifts, strengths and talents on their or what someone likes, what they do on a regular basis, that's on a quick two minute read. That doctor has the ability to start those conversations right away, that they know a little bit about the person. It's also a visual, so it helps people to remember these things. So down the road, when Melissa is in for her next appointment, the doctor's going to remember those conversations even more.
00;04;45;06 - 00;05;05;16
LeAnn Bieber
After all the people that they see. It helps them to really pull that out more. Melissa's one page description has her picture on it and her smile is infectious. And I could say it as mom, but I've heard it so many times that she has such an infectious smile. So that tool itself gives people a very positive outlook.
00;05;05;16 - 00;05;23;28
LeAnn Bieber
The minute they look at her face and the minute they they start to read all of that, and then the section that talks about how best to support her really gives that more information of of the why, why does she need the extra support, and then how do you do it and and how do you work through it?
00;05;24;01 - 00;05;38;19
LeAnn Bieber
So because of those things, that tool is one of my favorites. It just really helps to to get good conversations started. And those critical conversations that are needed.
00;05;38;21 - 00;05;57;25
Chet Tschetter
It sounds to me like it's really a win win situation for the person who's going to the doctor, but also for the doctor or the health professional to have a better understanding of, you know, who they're going to be supporting, who they're going to be serving and providing that, expertise to.
00;05;57;28 - 00;06;17;12
LeAnn Bieber
Yes. And you think about it, you can send this to a doctor in an email, through a portal, through, however, so they can receive it ahead of time. And again, looking at that face is going to put a smile on their face and maybe hopefully start their day in a very positive outlook as well. And then they're going to be ready for that appointment.
00;06;17;14 - 00;06;42;25
LeAnn Bieber
Very important in our training. We do talk about, scenario where someone had two appointments in the same day and sent a one page description to both of them. One had a chance to read it and the other did not. Where the other, the one appointment where they did not get a chance to read it. They ended up having to reschedule the appointment because it just didn't go well.
00;06;42;25 - 00;07;04;12
LeAnn Bieber
It wasn't successful and the person really struggled. So thinking about having to reschedule appointments that are hard to get into in the first place, versus having a successful, successful appointment that sets everybody up for a really good day and for, great treatment options to go forward.
00;07;04;14 - 00;07;34;09
Chet Tschetter
Yeah. The other thing I was thinking about, Leanne was. How great it is as it's great for everybody, but especially for people who maybe don't use, words, language or vocal language to be able to interact with the physician. That it gives some conversation, it gives them the position, something to talk about because they know what that individual is interested in.
00;07;34;11 - 00;07;36;07
Chet Tschetter
What do you think about that?
00;07;36;10 - 00;08;00;02
LeAnn Bieber
Yeah, I agree, it definitely does. It gives a, I don't always like the word empowerment, but really an empowerment to that person. If when you look at Melissa's one page description, one thing that's in there is that it says that she likes to be independent. And, it's hard for her to be independent when she does not use words to speak when she relies on me in a lot of ways.
00;08;00;05 - 00;08;30;18
LeAnn Bieber
So when a doctor can say, Melissa, I see you love the show heartland and you love, love horses, Melissa will get a smile on her face and it will be something that will help her to at least be a little more intently listening, so that she can be involved in the conversation. She may not give her give a lot of information, but it does give her that ability to be involved and be as independent as she can in that moment.
00;08;30;21 - 00;08;56;16
Chet Tschetter
Right. And I would think that it also is just going to make her feel more comfortable, because that physician like, took the time and is interested in her as a person, like really is who she is. The other thing that I learned from Melissa's one page description was when you wrote about if you think something's going to take a certain amount of time, it's going to take longer than that.
00;08;56;16 - 00;09;08;22
Chet Tschetter
So give that space and know that if you interrupt that time, it starts again at zero. How insightful for anybody to have that information, right?
00;09;08;25 - 00;09;43;23
LeAnn Bieber
And honestly, a lot of people need that space. They need that time. And, not just necessarily somebody with a disability, but many people process in that way. So being able to tell somebody that, in this way, we're talking about a medical doctor or a dentist or something like that. I use these when paged page descriptions at work as well, for supervisors to have that same, ability to know, you know, this is how you best support the person, and they need some time to figure some things out to move forward to the conversation.
00;09;43;23 - 00;09;53;08
LeAnn Bieber
So knowing that you can that the little, pause is something that's very helpful for someone to help with that processing.
00;09;53;10 - 00;10;21;28
Chet Tschetter
Yeah. I love that you brought up that. It's a tool that can be used at work as well and really at home, really in so many different places in your life and how cool if DSPs as, as a group of staff members were able to do, a one page description for themselves and then that share that with each other, you would just learn so much, so much about your coworkers and how to to better support them.
00;10;21;28 - 00;10;24;29
Chet Tschetter
And they can better understand you as well.
00;10;25;01 - 00;10;48;06
LeAnn Bieber
Yeah, Melissa has a few different rest, but individuals that are in her life and one had started supporting her one day and had taken her to dairy Queen. And she called me and I hadn't had the opportunity to share Melissa's one page description, which that was really on me. I needed to to get that information to her right away.
00;10;48;09 - 00;11;08;04
LeAnn Bieber
But anyways, she called me a dairy Queen, and she says, you know, we she was in such a great mood. We were doing really well. We got her ice cream and all of a sudden she got very frustrated and upset and and just now I can't seem to figure out what to do. And I asked her right away, I said, are there any children around?
00;11;08;04 - 00;11;27;05
LeAnn Bieber
And she says, well, yeah, as a matter of fact, a birthday party just walked in the door and young children running around and causing, you know, they were laughing and giggling and having fun. But for some reason, that's a trigger for Melissa. So I was able to tell her that is that, you know, I do have this one page description to share with you.
00;11;27;07 - 00;11;38;29
LeAnn Bieber
This is a trigger. They moved out on the deck at the dairy Queen. And and it was they had a good time after that. So again another place where that one page description would have been so helpful for her right away.
00;11;39;05 - 00;11;45;29
Chet Tschetter
Right, right. Are there any other tools that are available besides a one page description?
00;11;46;02 - 00;12;17;04
LeAnn Bieber
There are many tools that are available within person centered processes. Like what's working? Not working, which gets into a lot of different perspectives and how you can really, determine conflicts, like where someone at like maybe a DSP is in conflict with someone they're supporting, but you can't figure out why when it's really as simple as this person doesn't like the way something's been done in the DSP has always done it that way.
00;12;17;06 - 00;12;43;00
LeAnn Bieber
Or maybe it's that a family member does something one way and a DSP does it differently, and that person is struggling with the two differences. So that's another great tool to really look at conflict resolution. It also is a really great way to pull out goals. So doing some goals setting to where people want to go go next with something.
00;12;43;02 - 00;13;10;25
LeAnn Bieber
That's one there are so many examples. That's one of the more popular ones. But Melissa also has a communication chart that she uses, because she doesn't use many words to speak or chooses when she uses those words, being able to understand those things like when there's a child running around and she's getting upset in somewhere, and we have that down on a chart that really looks at her communication.
00;13;10;27 - 00;13;37;20
LeAnn Bieber
And then what she wants us to do when these things are happening. Again, I could go on and on, but Rituals and Routines is another one. We all have different routines and rituals that we do in our lives, and being able to write down what those rules routines are. So, so people understand that, you know, I'm used to showering in the morning, but now you're having me shower at night and I'm really struggling with this.
00;13;37;22 - 00;14;08;06
LeAnn Bieber
Or maybe I really like the change. You know, I used to shower in the morning, but I like showering at night. It really calms me during the day. So really understanding differences. A lot of tools in that respect. There is also there's something called Charting the Life course that really charts a vision to where somebody wants to go with their life, and then how people can help keep someone on track with that vision.
00;14;08;08 - 00;14;12;17
LeAnn Bieber
Many, many other things that are out there that we use on a regular basis.
00;14;12;19 - 00;14;38;09
Chet Tschetter
Sounds like there are a lot of good tools that can really help. One of the things you said was planning for what, what and how Melissa wants you to interact or to handle situations. I think it was so important and in such a key component of a one page description, and what does the person want? What's going to be best for them?
00;14;38;09 - 00;14;51;27
Chet Tschetter
It's so individualized. So I would just like DSPs to remember, you know, one size does not fit all. Everybody's different. And how they're going to respond and how they want to be supported.
00;14;51;29 - 00;15;21;29
LeAnn Bieber
Absolutely. Another thing that is really important is sometimes you can use all these tools, they're real quick and easy. You don't even need a piece of paper to use them. Sometimes you need a little more formal process, where you are writing down that what's working? Not working or a communication chart or whatever. When you have that more formal process, that is something that there are facilitators that will do that for a group.
00;15;22;01 - 00;15;52;27
LeAnn Bieber
Many times having that, unbiased person come in and be able to really gather all the information and help the person to really tell their story. Really help somebody to get down, a good vision of where they want to go so that it is a, that is an opportunity for people, with disabilities at least, to, you know, if you want a person centered plan, there are people within Minnesota that will do that for you.
00;15;52;29 - 00;15;57;13
Chet Tschetter
Where would you find something like that or someone like that?
00;15;57;15 - 00;16;08;15
LeAnn Bieber
A start would be to contact the Department of Human Services. If you have a case manager or a case manager can typically find where those that those individuals are.
00;16;08;18 - 00;16;23;09
Chet Tschetter
With there being so many tools available then and it can definitely be overwhelming, I think for a DSP or frontline frontline supervisor to to know kind of where to start, what would you suggest they do to kind of get started.
00;16;23;11 - 00;16;48;23
LeAnn Bieber
Reaching out to a person centered thinking trainer would be a really great place to start. If they're not a facilitator, they can find a facilitator in that area. To find a person centered thinking trainer, you could go to the learning community. They have a website that works on person centered practices, and their website is TLC. Pki.org.
00;16;48;25 - 00;16;55;09
LeAnn Bieber
And then there's a place where you can search, trainers in your area.
00;16;55;11 - 00;17;09;06
Chet Tschetter
Great. Thank you. Liane, do you have any final words of encouragement or wisdom that you'd like to share with the the listeners about any of this stuff that we talked about today?
00;17;09;09 - 00;17;39;16
LeAnn Bieber
Well, I want to thank you all for for those of you that are DSPs and frontline supervisors, that's a very self selfless job and we really appreciate your help. Like I said, my daughter's at home right now, but when she's ready to move on her own, I, I really appreciate all the work that you do. And we know it's it's not always work that you see people value, but we do.
00;17;39;17 - 00;17;59;14
LeAnn Bieber
We value it very, very much. And looking at person centered processes is going to be a win win for you as well as the people that you support. So looking at those processes, using the tools that you can use is only going to make your your life a lot easier.
00;17;59;17 - 00;18;23;22
Chet Tschetter
Thank you, liane, for joining me today. It was a pleasure talking with you and learning more from you about how to really implement person centered planning and thinking, and different tools that you shared with us. I also want to thank the listeners for tuning in today. We appreciate you as Leanne's said, the work that you do is so important and we really appreciate it.
00;18;23;24 - 00;18;55;06
Chet Tschetter
You can find other episodes of this podcast and Health Matters for direct support. Another podcast produced by the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration on your favorite Pod podcast streaming service. Until next time, be kind to yourself and others.
