EP 160 :: Botes Memory Method :: Sira Botes
Where flowers bloom, so does hope. And in Florida today, hope for delivering better care to dementia patients is growing thanks to Sira Botes. Her role as a home care clinician inspired her to create a communication platform, the Memory Bouquet, that helps everyone involved with dementia care by identifying the highest, safest cognitive level and establishing the most appropriate care plan. It’s an approach that meets patients where they are at. And more importantly, it elevates the quality of life and decreases the burden of this disease for everyone involved.
Sira received her Occupational Therapy degree from University of Pretoria, being awarded the Elite Military Scholarship for being one of the top academics in the country. Following graduation, Sira sought employment in the largest rehabilitation hospital in the southern hemisphere, First Military Hospital. Since relocating the US, Sira has worked in a variety of healthcare settings, including outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, and home health care, where she has held clinical, operational, business development and leadership positions.
Dementia is no stranger to Sira, watching her Grandmother (“Ouma”) care for her husband/Sira’s Grandfather (“Oupa”), who suffered from Alzheimer’s Dementia. He passed when she was just 13 years old. Fast forward 21 years, Sira noticed cognitive changes in her mother during a trip to the US. Shortly thereafter, Sira’s mother was diagnosed with Dementia. Over the last 17 years, Sira has watched the challenges her mother and father have had, and continue to have, while living with dementia.
The Blessings of Dementia
Sira’s heart continues to grow for persons living with dementia and their care partners, having a deep understanding of the burden on both sides of the care continuum. Being introduced to cognitive decline at an early age, not fully comprehending what was happening until later in life, planted the seeds of passion for pursuing meaningful solutions for all people suffering from dementia.
The challenges Sira experienced while working in senior living communities, in addition to her personal life, caring for her mother from a distance, fueled her passion to do dementia care differently, to simplify and demystify dementia. Sira’s clinical practice revealed a significant gap in the health care provider demand and the knowledge, practical skills, and resources needed to provide optimal health care for persons living with dementia. This realization began the building process, to bridge the gap between diagnosis and what to do next. This was the birth of The Botes Memory Method.
The Botes Memory Method
The Botes Memory Method is a multifactorial clinical assessment tool that identifies the highest, safest cognitive level, while establishing the most appropriate care plan for persons living with Dementia and all involved in their care. To simplify, The Botes Memory Method begins with a clinical assessment, dementia staging, care plan development and implementation based on the Memory Bouquet™
Since the creation and implementation of The Botes Memory Method, Sira travels the state of Florida, teaching, coaching, mentoring, speaking, consulting, and supporting persons living with dementia, their care partners, and the communities in which live, cultivating a more dementia-sensitive culture, creating a universal language around dementia care, and empowering communities through connection.
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