Compassionate care for dementia at Beatitudes, Tena Alonzo

Published May 17, 2013

281 Posts

Specializes in Foot care.

May 16 on NPR's On Point, host Tom Ashbrook interviewed Tena Alonzo of Beatitudes in Phoenix AZ. Beatitudes was written about in a New York Times article Giving Alzheimer's Patients Thier Way, Even Chocolate, a couple of years ago. It's written about again in the May 20 New Yorker in The Sense of an Ending. (I don't think you can read the article for free but you will get a taste.) Beatitudes is a nursing home that puts the patient first, uses very little psychotropic medications, and has had amazing success with dementia patients.

I'd pack may bags and move out to Phoenix and work for free if I could! Does anyone know of other places that are implementing or trying to implement these methods into their practice?

I was a bit dismayed to read that they do not pay more for the additional skills required of the carer staff, or for night work. As if an extra, say, $2/hour (?) would be enough to attract those who are more interested in the $$ than the inherent rewards. And why should those who find this work to be "their bag," not be compensated more for the better work they do?

I really do believe you get what you pay for. And even for those who do good work despite low pay, it is demoralizing to work hard and still not be able to cover the basics of life. I don't know about Arizona, but I do know that in my ALF, the CNAs start at $12/hour and you cannot pay the rent in eastern Massachusetts on that wage; we also do not pay a differential for overnight work and the nurses are on call without extra compensation.

I can't imagine how Beatitudes does what they do without increasing staffing; my limited experience is that staffing is always so minimal that everyone works as fast as they can and no one has extra time for anything, least of all thoughtful reflection.

Again, does anyone know of anything like this happening anywhere else?

'Nelly