A dementia care guide that has been helping direct-care workers since 2006 is now better than ever.

Knowledge and Skills Needed for Dementia Care: A Guide for Direct Care Workers in Everyday Language helps direct-care workers determine whether they have the skills they need to deliver person-centered dementia care — and where to go for assistance if they need training. It also helps supervisors, policymakers, and others evaluate dementia care training programs. It was developed by a team of experts and reviewed by many more, including more than 60 home health aides and CNAs.

“Most people who provide hands-on care for individuals with dementia have big, warm, caring hearts,” says Dementia Project Coordinator Micki Horst. ”They want to learn all they can about how best to care for and interact with someone with dementia. We developed this guide to give them a tool for assessing their own competencies.”

The updated version includes useful additions: an overview of the primary diseases that may cause dementia symptoms, top ten warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related diseases, a description of structures of the brain, and a glossary of words used in the text.

Copies (pdf) of the new version may be downloaded free from the Michigan Dementia Coalition website. For hard copies, contact Lorie Massuch at lmassuch@mphi.org or (517) 324-7320.

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org