Dementia Care: Common Sense Guidelines

Dementia Care: Common Sense Guidelines is organized by ATrain Education, Inc.. This course has been approved for a maximum of 3.5 Contact hours.

Expiration Date: May 1, 2027

Course Summary:
This pragmatic course is based on twenty years of experience with patients who have Alzheimer’s or other dementias. Zeman’s common sense guidelines for working with dementia patients reflect the foundational belief that we must keep in mind the person who existed before the onset of dementia and put ourselves in their place in order to understand what they need from us today.

Course Objectives:
When you finish this course you will be able to:
• Explain the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 and how it has led to better care for patients in residential care settings.
• Discuss the importance of putting yourself in the place of the person with dementia to figure out what she needs.
• Name three new dementia communication skills you have learned.
• Give four reasons for avoiding arguments with your dementia patient.
• Explain the importance of validation and how to use it.
• Say what it means to “consider the whole person.”
• Define “feel-goods” and explain how to use them to change the mood of the person with dementia.
• Explain why reality orientation is not appropriate for residents with mid- and late-stage dementia.
• List four ways to encourage independence in your patient.
• Suggest three ways to determine appropriate activities during care.
• Explain the importance of love and other positive emotions for the person who has dementia.
• Discuss how important it is for people with dementia to feel they have something important to do and suggest five activities designed to satisfy their needs.
• State four examples of judgmental behavior and how to move past them.
• Explain the wise use of humor in your work.
• Discuss the benefits of religion for dementia patients who practiced it when they were well.
• State what it means to expect the unexpected.