July 10, 2016

Fostering Empathy Through Dementia Training

Our agency focuses solely on dementia care, so we’re fortunate enough to work with professional caregivers who come to us with critical skills and expertise in this area. Our goal is to set our Memory Care Professionals (MCPs) up for success with our clients and empower them through additional, ongoing training and support.

Most education models teach the WHAT of dementia, which revolves mainly around facts, figures and information. Dementia Specialist Teepa Snow developed the Positive Approach™ to Care (PAC), which takes this a step further and teaches the HOW of dealing with dementia. PAC focuses on how caregivers can maintain a positive relationship with somebody who has a changing brain, and the myriad behaviors and challenges that often come with that. Teepa's relational approach and hands-on techniques offer the interpersonal skills needed to improve quality of life for everyone involved, including being able to understand the experience of living with dementia from the client’s perspective.

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A large portion of the training our MCPs receive focuses on PAC techniques and on subjects ranging from how to handle challenging behaviors to dealing with grief when losing a loved one to dementia. These training sessions are designed to offer a positive approach to supporting people living with dementia and provide the skills necessary to meet the client’s changing needs as their disease progresses.

A common thread in all of our training classes is how to maintain our clients’ dignity and respect in all interactions, and strategies which support the abilities that they still have, versus focusing on what they’ve lost. The classes also help promote a sense of independence for our clients and make them feel that they have control over their lives by partnering with them in their care. The overall goal is to help change the way we all look at dementia care and how we must be the ones who must change our approach, skills and understanding.