Although 64% of nursing home residents have dementia, only 23 states have laws prescribing training requirements for direct care staff in nursing homes and, of those, only one state requires staff to pass competency examinations. Only ten states require dementia training for law enforcement and EMTs. These are among the findings of an in-depth survey of state statute and regulations prepared by Justice in Aging that looked at dementia training requirements for professionals in a variety of health care and community settings. The report found wide variation among states in both the amount and the content of required training.
This webinar presented the major findings of the study, which was commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Association, and discussed steps needed for advocacy to address current gaps.
In this webinar you will learn:
- What states are and are not doing to train providers in nursing homes, assisted living, adult day health, and other settings to serve the needs of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
- Different approaches by states regarding hourly training requirements, curriculum content, and demonstration of competency
- Promising practices in designing state training requirements for professionals
- What advocacy is needed to improve state laws mandating professional dementia training
- Ways to work with provider groups to develop cooperative approaches to training program design
Presenters:
Georgia Burke, Directing Attorney, Justice in Aging
Randi Chapman, Director, State Affairs, Alzheimer’s Association
The webinar took place on Monday, August 24, 2015 11:00 a.m. PT/ 2:00 p.m. ET.
