“What I realized was the care that was being provided to my mom wasn’t working’ says Mrs. Sabelhaus, they opened my eyes to this incredible Model of care.”
Initiated with a leadership gift of $50,000 from the Sabelhaus family the Copper Ridge Institute’s Nurse Scholar program honors Melanie Sabelhaus’ mother, Millicent Radlick who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Mrs. Radlick benefited from the Copper Ridge Model of Care© and the clinical support team of the Institute.
Dr. Baker ED of TCRI states that “research on best care practices for those suffering from Alzheimer’s and other related dementias conducted by the Millicent Radlick Nurse Scholar, dovetails with the mission of the Institute. The results of this cutting edge research will be made available for caregivers and facilities across the US and shared with our global partners.
Mrs. Sabelhaus worked closely with Cindy Steele, a senior faculty member of TCRI and a Hopkins nurse, to create the Nurse Scholar program but their strong bond goes back further to when Mrs. Sabelhaus was struggling to find care for her mother (she also cared for an Aunt who had Alzheimer’s). As the former Deputy Administrator of the US Small Business Association and an active entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mrs. Sabelhaus felt she had many resources at her fingertips. But when it came to caring for her family, she was at a loss.
“What I realized was the care that was being provided to my mom wasn’t working’ says Mrs. Sabelhaus, they opened my eyes to this incredible Model of care©. I could see that the clinical staff at TCRI were passionate and driven about assisting many of us that have loved ones with Alzheimer’s and helping to ensure that they (our loved ones) are cared for properly.
Dr. Ann Morrison accepted the position as the Millicent Radlick Nurse Scholar. Through observation and work with staff, patients and families at Copper Ridge, we continue to refine best practices in Alzheimer’s care. These innovative, advanced and clinically proven best practices are then shared nationally and internationally. Dr. Morrison was recently awarded a grant to be a Site Principle Investigator for a Multi-Site research protocol as part of the Alzheimer’s disease Cooperative Study Unit (ADCSU) based at the University of California San Diego.
The goal of this project is to see how home-based assessments might be used by nurses and other professionals to detect memory changes and provide care in the home setting. Such an approach could significantly reduce the cost of medical care as well as identifying a way to provide care within the home setting.
This is a four- year study examining the use of mail-in questionnaires, automated telephone technology, and computerized data collection to assess the cognitive function of study participants within the home
environment.
Dr. Morrison developed a Gerontological Clinical Experience Program at Copper Ridge in association with the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Nursing students from Hopkins spend a day at Copper Ridge learning the Model of Care©, touring the facility, meeting nursing leaders and the Administrator. This model will be used when other nursing schools visit Copper Ridge in the future. Because of this program, several
students from Johns Hopkins have expressed a deeper interest in Gerontology and hope to seek employment at Copper Ridge. Copper Ridge is now a site for rotation of nursing students in internship programs. Dr. Morrison is also working on developing a curriculum to be included in the Johns Hopkins nursing school program that includes an introduction to gerontology at the freshman level and an advanced dementia curriculum for the graduate student. This can become a model curriculum for all nursing programs across the country.
Dr. Morrison continues to speak on how the Copper Ridge Model of Care© can be translated into any environment. Requests to speak come from all over the country:
Dr. Morrison is serving as a mentor to a student from the University of Maryland School of Dental Hygiene. The student’s Master’s Thesis is studying resistance to dental care in people with dementia. This protocol will be developed at Copper Ridge and can be used as a model.