Sunday, September 15, 2024, 12:30 PM - 4:45 PM | DeVos Place Convention Center, Ballroom D

This program is being held as a pre-convention workshop prior to the start of HCAM's Annual Convention & Expo. Separate registration is required for each event. Space is limited for this workshop. This workshop will be held in-person only - virtual participation is not available.

To register for HCAM Convention, please click HERE.

PROGRAM SUMMARY

C3 De-escalation is an innovative, practical technique that works with brain function to calm aggressive or distraught residents. It’s appropriate for use with residents with severe and persistent mental health disorders, substance use disorders, co-occurring disorders, dementia, TBIs, or intellectual disabilities. This training is for anyone working in skilled nursing or assisted living settings.

Developed by Andra Medea, who taught at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, C3 was founded in Iowa to train staff across a broad range of mental health and disability services. With over 6,000 practitioners, C3 is calm, humane, and user friendly. Each participant will receive the C3 De-escalation workbook and will work in teams to create de-escalation action plans for their own workplaces.

LEARNER OBJECTIVES

1. Acquire skills to calm a resident who is angry, frustrated or overwhelmed.
2. Decrease stress and burnout in staff.
3. Create a de-escalation plan that is actionable, practical, and supports human dignity.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

C3 De-escalation® targets a breakdown in the brain. Stress or anger– i.e., “losing it”– causes a physical short–circuit. Brain sections that handle self-restraint, reason and consequences essentially disconnect. This can result in outbursts of aggression, agitation, or reckless behavior. We’ve all experienced this to some degree. However, someone with mental health or addiction issues is more vulnerable, often with worse consequences.

C3, which stands for Calm Circuit Connection, provides groups of techniques in these three areas to help the brain calm down and stabilize:

1. Calm: Stress chemicals trigger the short-circuit. C3 provides ways to lower the stress chemicals, giving circuits a chance to re-connect.
   • Example: Any large muscle action drops adrenaline. For instance, if you walk someone around or walk them up a flight of stairs, you’ll find they’re less agitated and less aggressive at the top of the stairs than at the bottom. It’s that fast. Just be sure they’re safe to walk up a flight of stairs.
2. Circuit: Since parts of the brain disconnect, C3 provides ways to cue disconnected parts and jump-start the circuit.
   • Example: One disconnected part puts things into order. So, ask simple sequence questions: “What happened first?” Then, “What happened next?” As you step them through the sequence, you’ll hear their voices calm down and their agitation lessen.
3. Connection: Typically, there’s a lead time before the actual explosion. If we notice the signs and intervene wisely, we can stop the explosion before it happens. C3 shows how to connect the dots: spot the pattern, head off the eruption.