Safety First: Understanding and Responding to Dementia Behaviors
Catholic Charities Hawaii (CCH) is offering another Zoom workshop focusing on Dementia-Related Behaviors that can be challenging for caregivers and providers of persons living with dementia in the community. This session will target unpaid caregivers of persons living with dementia in the community and the service providers, friends & family, neighbors, educators, and advocates who support them. These workshops are made possible by a grant given to Catholic Charities Hawaii from the U.S. Administration for Community Living/DHHS for the Alzheimer’s Disease Programs Initiative awarded to organizations across the country to increase resources and information to improve the well-being of persons living with dementia in the community and their caregivers.
The workshop will cover:
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- Benefits of working as a team with healthcare and community resources through all stages of dementia
- Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of dementia and why safety comes first
- What the caregiver can do to help increase safety at home for their person living with dementia
- Fall prevention and dementia, assessing and modifying the environment
- Wandering issues: tips for environmental changes, safety in and out of the home
- Dining and Safety: being prepared for possible swallowing difficulties and nutrition/hydration challenges
- Alzheimer’s Association, Hawaii Chapter statewide resources, programs and education
Expert Panel Presenters:
Jessica Barry, MD has been working at The Queen’s Medical Center Geriatric Services for 15 years. Born and raised in Kansas, she attended University of Kansas for undergraduate and medical school. Her Internal Medicine Residency was at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Her Geriatric Fellowship was with University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. She aims to keep her older patients independent as long as possible while maintaining an optimal quality of life with proactive prevention, early diagnosis, and targeted treatment. She and her husband from Hawaii have two children. She is passionate about dementia education for lay persons and health professionals. In her free time, she ferries the children to their activities and squeezes in running and reading novels.
Ivy K. Castallanos is the Director of Programs with the Alzheimer’s Association, Hawaii Chapter. She holds a Master’s degree in Behavioral Science and Health Education from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and has more than 20 years’ experience in the combined areas of health education, health promotion and disease prevention, health equity, and corporate wellness. She has served in roles with organizations such as HMSA, the American Heart Association, and HealthAssist, and has held research positions with the Johns Hopkins Center for Cancer Pain Research and the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research in Baltimore, Maryland. Ivy joined the Alzheimer’s Association in 2014 and finds joy in empowering families affected by dementia. She is a full-time mom of two and a full-time caregiver for her mother.
Implementing the National Task Group-Early Detection Screen for Dementia (NTG-EDSD)
Free half-day training that will aid staff at Hawaii agencies and organizations as well as family caregivers to assess, record and observe cognitive function over time in persons aging with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD).
In-person event with remote Zoom uplink available. Parking instructions will be sent to registrants who plan to attend in person. Lunch and handouts will be provided.
After the training, attendees will be able to:
• Describe clinical manifestations, incidence/prevalence, and risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in persons with Intellectual Disability (ID) with emphasis on Down syndrome
• Share an overview and rationale for use of the NTG-EDSD, an administrative screen designed to detect dementia-related changes in persons aging with ID
• Describe how Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of dementia (BPSD) manifest in persons with IDD
• Develop an approach to managing BPSD that includes behavioral & environmental interventions as primary, and psychotropic medications as secondary, in partnership with healthcare professionals
• Understand how to complete the NTG-EDSD tool with persons aging with ID and their caregivers or whoever knows them best
• Know when the tool can be administered and kept in the person’s records – how and why it can be shared with the person’s physician
• Describe the challenges encountered in accurately diagnosing dementia with individuals living with IDD, and the rationale for using the NTG-EDSD tool to track cognitive changes over time to share with and help physicians with person-centered assessment and treatment options
Trainer: Ritabelle Fernandes, MD, MPH is a Professor at the Dept. of Geriatric Medicine, John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii. She is also Medical Director of Population Health at AlohaCare. She is a certified Regional Trainer for the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices. Dr. Fernandes championed memory clinics across the state to provide comprehensive, person-centered dementia care. She has served on the Doctors workgroup for the State Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia.
Learn more about the work and resources of the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices.
To find out more about the NTG-EDSD for physicians, staff, advocates, and families, and translation of the tool into other languages: https://www.the-ntg.org/ntg-edsd
Non-Pharmacological Treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia
Non-pharmacological treatments play a critical role in preventing and slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This presentation will provide the latest updates on prevention and treatment strategies, emphasizing the importance of managing midlife risk factors and adopting evidence-based lifestyle interventions. Attendees will gain practical, actionable steps to support cognitive health and learn about a comprehensive range of local, state, regional, and national resources available for individuals and families living with memory loss and dementia.
Participants in this webinar will be able to:
- List risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia and ways to reduce these risks through improved management.
- Identify lifestyle interventions that have an impact on cognition and neurological disease processes, from prodromal phases to early dementia.
- Identify local, state, regional, and national programs and services to improve the quality of life for individuals and families living with dementia.
About the Presenter:
Kristoffer Rhoads, PhD, is a Professor of Neurology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and serves as the Director of the Division of Neuropsychology at Harborview Medical Center. He specializes in the evaluation and treatment of mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Dr. Rhoads currently serves as the Governor-appointed Chair of the Health and Medical Subcommittee for the Washington State Dementia Action Collaborative and is also the Director and Co-lead of UW Project ECHO Dementia
*This webinar is designed for professionals and family caregivers. Eligible professionals can claim ONE FREE CE credit within 60 days of the live webinar by attending the live event or watching the recorded program.
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