Dementia Care Specialist Training™

Everyone who works in dementia care settings or with individuals with Alzheimer’s disease requires a baseline of knowledge about the disease, its affects on families, and proven strategies for creating optimal care. The Dementia Care Specialist Training program is an eight-hour course designed to meet this need. This program can serve as a foundation for more advanced dementia care training or as a great refresher for health care professionals. This is a hands-on, “empathy based” model for understanding and caring for someone with dementia.

Who We Train

Our training is for any staff who provide care for people with Alzheimer's or who work in settings where care is provided. It's for health care professionals who want to understand more about this illness, and want to learn new, proven techniques. We work with nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, recreation therapists, occupational and physical therapists, housekeepers, dietary staff and administrative staff.

Certification satisfies Connecticut Department of Public Health (Public Act 06-195) requirement (Sec. S16)

Connecticut's DPH requires at least 8 hours of Alzheimer's and dementia-specific training within 6 months from date of employment, for licensed and registered staff who provide direct care to residents in Alzheimer's special care units or programs. Additional Connecticut requirements are also addressed with our Continuing and Advanced Training.

To arrange for certification training for your organization, contact Kelly Papa at 860-628-3002 or at kpapa@arc-ct.org.

Syllabus

Our certification training comes directly from 15 years of experience caring exclusively for people at all stages of Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. Our 8-hour training covers:

• Basic knowledge of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia
• Understanding the disease process
• Communicating with empathy
• Elements of person-centered care
• Creating optimal care environments
• Understanding and unraveling behaviors
• Caring for self and others
• Basics of S.A.F.E. Response Techniques ^TM
• Basics of Dinning with Friends ^TM
• Assessing and addressing pain
• Team building for success

All participants earn Dementia Care Specialist Certification with 8 hours of training. This certification ensures that you meet Connecticut’s dementia care training requirements.

How We Work Together

• Train at the Alzheimer's Resource Center, or at your facility.
• Training schedules. Plan a full day of training, or two 1/2 days, or other arrangements that fit your schedule.
• Who are the instructors? Our front-line staff including nurses, certified nursing assistants, physicians who specialize in this field, and occupational and recreation therapists who work hands-on with residents at the Alzheimer's Resource Center - an environment where our insightful and caring approaches have been proven to work.
• To arrange for certification training for your organization, contact us at (860) 628 9000.