Quality Care Begins with Dementia Care Training for Your Staff

Quality care of residents with memory loss begins with dementia care training for your senior living staff. Studies show that dementia care training for direct care providers can improve patient-caregiver relations, job satisfaction and attitude for team members, and helps to build supportive relationships with families of the person with memory loss.

According to an article from 2018 in The Gerontologist, “Increasing numbers of people with dementia will require more caregivers, both family caregivers as well as long-term care providers. The need for paid care providers will continue to increase from 3.27 million in 2014 to 4.56 million in 2024. At the same time the number of those who comprise the bulk of the care providers, the number of women between the ages of 25 and 64 is anticipated to remain the same (Gao, Tilse, Wilson, Tuckett, & Newcombe, 2015).” Dementia care training for your team can help ease that shortage.

What is dementia care training?

Dementia care training helps caregivers understand how Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia may affect residents. Training is used to help build empathy and compassion, an important part of person-centered care. Your staff is instructed on what to expect from residents with dementia, and techniques to use in response. Providing caregivers with the tools they need to identify common situations and respond appropriately reduces stress and anxiety for staff, the person with dementia, and their families, and increases safety. In addition, the resident’s quality of life may be enhanced.

Behaviors that are addressed in SeniorLivingU’s dementia care training include:

Wanderlust

While it is said that not all who wander are lost, when it comes to your residents with dementia, you know that wandering can be highly problematic. SeniorLivingU’s dementia care training solutions can help your staff recognize when a resident needs assistance and the best way to manage the situation, keeping everyone safe and reducing stress.

Resistance to care

Resisting care is common for residents with dementia. That’s why it is essential that your staff be prepared with techniques to establish trust and use compassionate solutions to reduce challenging behavior. Our DVD series demonstrates these techniques in practice. For a preview of the Resisting Care DVD, click here.

Agitation

“Agitation is a syndrome defined by a cluster of things including verbal and physical aggression, restlessness as well as shouting associated with distress and anxiety,” said lead author of a recent study, Clive Ballard. “It profoundly affects people with dementia and their quality of living.”

An agitated resident can stir up other residents and endanger themselves, staff, and others. The key to keeping calm is empathy and training. Knowing how to react to defuse a tough situation and ease the patient’s agitation is essential. That’s why SeniorLivingU devotes an entire DVD for training staff on techniques to reduce agitation.

Feels like home

“Regardless of location, it is the care community’s deep adoption of person-centered care values and practices, including staff training, the approach to programming and activities, and having a supportive environment, that will ultimately make the setting successful—a place where individuals living with dementia care be comfortable, feel at home, have their preferences honored, and be in meaningful relationships with those around them,” said Margaret P Calkins, PhD, EDAC, in From Research to Application: Supportive and Therapeutic Environments for People Living With Dementia, featured in the February 2018 issue of The Gerontologist.

SeniorLiving U’s dementia care training can help your senior living community be a place where individuals living with dementia feel at home. We offer convenient and affordable training packages, including DVDs, manuals, and the Anytime Online Learning Portal for convenient online learning. Topics addressed include an introduction to dementia and Alzheimer’s, as well as wandering, agitation, resisting care, communication, and meaningful activities.

 Learn more about dementia care training for senior living staff at SeniorLivingU.com.

Located in Hershey, PA, SeniorLivingU provides education and support for the senior living industry. Comprehensive training materials are available in many formats, including the Anytime Online Learning Portal, certificate programs, manuals, and textbooks, DVDs, and instant downloads. With our senior living management certificate program, you can acquire the knowledge you need to advance your career. Have questions? The FAQ page provides guidance on how to purchase educational materials and more information about our assisted living education. To learn more about SeniorLivingU and the services and resources we provide, contact us today.