The Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County is providing a Dementia Care Certificate course for TJC students this November.
The upcoming class will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Regional Training and Development Complex at the TJC West Campus. The cost of enrollment to the course is $163. However, the alliance does offer 10 scholarships to cover the cost of the class.
The first part of the course is a lecture taught by Jamie Huff, the program director at the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County, who has worked at the alliance for 18 and a half years.
The lecture will teach caregivers of those with dementia about the science of the brain, how to communicate with someone with dementia, the importance of body language, how to use cues, and how to build empathy.
“I teach about communication skills with a person who has dementia because that’s very different than communicating with somebody who does not have dementia,” Huff said.
Photo courtesy of Second Wind Dreams. Participants wear gear that inhibits their senses and complete a set of tasks in a Virtual Dementia Tour.
The lecture will also discuss how to handle challenging behaviors from people with dementia, such as aggression or sexually acting out. Huff describes using only psychotropic medication to reduce challenging behavior as only a “Band-Aid” solution. Psychotropic medications are typically used to treat mental health conditions and affect the brain, behavior and emotions.
Huff discussed the importance of giving people with dementia activities to perform, describing all caregivers as activity directors, whether they are caregivers of a loved one at home or working in memory care.
“It might not say that on their name tag, but keeping these folks busy and having purpose will help challenging behaviors go down, and it also will help them sleep better at night,” Huff said.
The next part of the course is the Virtual Dementia Tour, which is conducted by Rebecca Smith, the marketing and education coordinator at the alliance.
When taking the Virtual Dementia Tour, participants wear gear that inhibits their senses and are asked to complete a set of tasks. The gear mimics neuropathy in the feet, loss of dexterity and vision, and other conditions found in older people with dementia.
Both Huff and Smith said the Virtual Dementia Tour helps give caregivers empathy for those with dementia.
“They’re very surprised how difficult it can be with the dementia simulating equipment, and they come out with a sense of confusion and frustration and really get a sense of what it might be like to live with dementia,” Smith said.
Participants are then given a debriefing to talk about their feelings and experiences during the tour.
In the final part of the course, a person with a type of dementia related illness, such as Alzheimer’s or Lewy Body, will tell their story.
“Something else people don’t realize is there’s different dementia related illnesses, and they all move through the brain a little differently, so having that perspective of other diseases is really helpful. And hearing from someone living with it themselves, I think, is really, really powerful,” Smith said.
Huff said anyone in contact, now or in the future, with people with dementia would benefit from taking the course, not only caregivers. She also said one in three people know someone with irreversible dementia.
The alliance also offers internship opportunities for TJC Students at their Day Club Program and front desk. They also accept volunteers to help set up the Virtual Dementia Tours and health fairs, along with the Day Club Program and front desk.
In the Day Club Program, people with mild to moderate dementia may be dropped off for a few hours to do crafts, play games, dance, and do other activities to give them cognitive and social stimulation.
Information about the course can be found at the Alzheimer’s Alliance of Smith County’s website at alzalliance.org/professionals. To apply for a scholarship, contact Heather Adams, the administrative services director at the alliance, by calling 903-509-8323 or emailing [email protected]. To get involved at the alliance, visit alzalliance.org/getinvolved.
