Dementia Patients
As our world's population ages, the incidence of dementia and other dementing illnesses continues to grow. It is important, as more health care facilities create dementia-specific programming, that practitioners learn about the disease process and special considerations for care and treatment planning. By improving the quality of care given to clients with dementia, providers can recognize predictors of cognitive transitions, prevent challenging behaviors, and successfully intervene at key points of cognitive decline. With the mandate to decrease physical and chemical restraints, practitioners must learn alternate interventions to help clients keep themselves and others from harm. Due to the large demands of OBRA guidelines, most care has had to focus strictly on personal hygiene and nutritional intake. Clients and their family members need activity intervention, social support, and programming and measurement of not only cognition, but also cognitive performance. With growing demands to utilize evidence-based practice, health care professionals also have a responsibility to employ tools and measures to gauge the client's level of dementia, cognitive performance, and independent living skills.

This one-day seminar provides tools for effective assessment and therapeutic intervention with the dementia patient. Participants will learn to evaluate cognition and cognitive performance and utilize effective strategies to enhance independence, function, cooperation, and behaviors for the client with dementia. You will acquire new skills to enhance long-term care planning and help patients and families prepare for disease progression and future transitions in cognition. The skills and strategies taught in this seminar can be implemented into practice the very next day to provide better care and achieve better results with dementia patients.

Course Content

Etiology/Stages of Dementia

u          Different types of dementia

u          Stages—early, mid, end

u          Communication

u          Sensory systems

u          Comorbid diagnoses

Management of Dementia

u          Activities of daily living (ADLs)

            -           case studies

u          Challenging behaviors

            -           case studies

u          Contractures

u          Eating

u          Balance and strength

u          Sensory deprivation

u          Fall prevention

u          Activities

u          Decreasing confusion

Care Planning

u          Classification of ADL levels

u          Psychosocial models

            -           Cognitive Disability Frame of Reference

            -           Information Processing Model

u          Toys and tools

u          Group activities

u          Coordinating programs

u          Caregiver support

Assessment and Evaluation

u          Allen Battery

u          Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)

u          Brief Cognitive Rating Scale (BCRS)

u          Codes

u          Billing

u          Trial data collection

Screening and Staff Education

u          Interdisciplinary communication

u          Restorative programs

u          Training for nursing assistants

u          Creating and managing referrals

u          Color groups

u          Discharge planning