The pandemic has added a few more hurdles to the already-challenging lives of those caring for people living with dementia, including both individuals and larger residential facilities. Some of these include staff shortages, the inability to have large group trainings and interruptions in bringing in qualified instructors or trainers in to facilities. This gives us a few more reasons to prioritize the care we’re providing.
I would argue that the pandemic should give us even more motivation to understand how we can better provide “Dementia Aware” care. Dementia is not going anywhere and is essentially another pandemic on its own.
Memory impairment takes an immense toll on every person whose life it touches; the person living with dementia, their caregiver, family and friends. The impact on society as a whole is even greater and that’s why it’s so important that we continue to find ways to deliver relatable, appropriate and beneficial training to family and professional caregivers.
So, let’s talk about how we can continue delivering appropriate, relatable and beneficial training programs. My online course does just that in an easy-to-deliver format. Here are some of the important topics we cover:
- How to connect, engage and respond to people who have dementia symptoms.
- How to raise community awareness and why it’s important to do so.
- The basics of dementia, including what it is and how it impacts both the person with dementia symptoms and their caregivers.
- Ways to understand behavior as communication and how to respond appropriately.
- How to support those with dementia and their caregivers at home, within the community and in long-term care settings.
- The importance of remembering to care for the caregiver and how to go about doing that.
The course content was developed based on real research that has guided sound strategies that can be used in real-world situations by anyone who interacts with the memory impaired: all levels of facility workers, medical staff and family members. It is broken up into four one-hour modules, presented in an entertaining way that can be done at your own pace.
If you’re ready to take your dementia care to another level this upcoming year, I invite you to sign up for one of these online training opportunities. It’s never too late to begin taking a loving approach to care.