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Why This Course

(Training Requirement)

  • Certification is available to all healthcare professionals

  • Meets CMS dementia care navigator training requirements

  • Convenient on-demand, on-phone training

  • Case study-based discussions with cross-discipline participants

  • Immediately usable knowledge & practical skills

  • Enhanced credentials for career advancement and new opportunities

Time Commitment

(20 hours)

  • 10+ hours of on-demand video training 

  • 10 hours of practicum learning with case-study based discussions and certification assessment

Awarded Upon

Completion

  • This course meets CMS GUIDE Program care navigator training requirements ​

  • All learners will become Certified Dementia Care Navigator (CDCN) and receive a CareBrains certificate

  • The Certified Dementia Care Navigator (CDCN) Certificate demonstrates that a professional has completed specialized education with practical skills and is well-equipped to provide dementia care navigation services

Payment Information

  • Due at enrollment

  • Promotional codes available

Course Overview

The goal of this course is to provide those who treat and serve older adults with a clear understanding of normal aging, what’s not normal, the dementing diseases, and practical advice for protecting and serving those who are experiencing cognitive impairment. At the same time, we provide support for family caregivers and educate professionals on ways to introduce caregivers to the necessary and available support. Also, we ensure that those who are experiencing cognitive impairment are treated with dignity and respect and are encouraged to participate in their own care to the best of their ability.

 

Who Should Attend

This activity has been designed for all frontline healthcare professionals, and other members of the healthcare team.

 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

  • Understand the basic functions of the brain

  • Recognize if their patient is or might become cognitively impaired, and to plan and interact accordingly

  • Implement effective communications methods with the patient, family members, and care management/discharge team, not only medical care.

  • Identify and implement ways to reduce the incidence of unnecessary hospital readmissions

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Topics

  1. Understanding dementia care management terms

  2. Dementia 101

  3. Identifying challenging dementia behaviors and methods to address them

  4. Understanding people with dementia (PWD)

  5. Practical skills for working with PWD

  6. Communicate effectively with PWD and the care team

  7. Certifying to become a dementia care navigator

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COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Jodi Lyons is a senior care expert, author, and industry expert on caring for brain health, including dementia care. Ting Shih is an award-winning serial entrepreneur specialized in scaling healthcare impact through technologies to improve healthcare worldwide. Since meeting more than a decade ago, Jodi and Ting both became experts in their respective areas and joined forces to distill decades of experience in addressing all aspects of dementia - health, legal, and financials, to provide accredited training on the practicals of dementia care, backed by evidence-based approaches, to scale knowledge dissemination.

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JODI LYONS

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Jodi is an eldercare expert who helps older adults and those with special needs find the care they need nationwide. An ardent patient advocate, Jodi helps people navigate the complicated, often convoluted system, identify what they need, and learn how to create an action plan. With 20+ years of experience in the nonprofit healthcare arena, Jodi has been a leader in national and international organizations representing healthcare and long-term care service providers.

 

She is a former executive committee member of the Alzheimer’s Association National Capital Area. She is a co-author of the award-winning book, Brain Health As You Age (Rowman and Littlefield 2018), was a contributor and industry advisor to Telemedicine Magazine, a contributor to Startup Health Magazine. She is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA and a former president of the Washington, D.C. area alumni association.

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TING SHIH

Ting Shih is the CEO and founder of ClickMedix, an award-winning AI-powered healthcare technology social enterprise born out of MIT with the mission of improving the health of over 1 billion people using mobile technologies.

 

She spent more than 10 years implementing mobile health programs across Africa, Asia, South America, and North America to enable healthcare to be delivered to anyone regardless of income-level, gender or age through telemedicine, AI, and health workers, to connect patients to world-class medical experts. ClickMedix is deployed in 25 countries, and serves 2 million+ people worldwide. In 2022, ClickMedix was inducted as Million Lives Collective Vanguard member. Ting has worked with health systems, payors, governments, research institutions, and private corporations to reduce costs of healthcare systematically, while reaching more underserved patients.

 

Ting is World Summit Awards winner (2019), Asian American Chamber of Commerce Young Professional of the Year (2018), Geneva Forum for Health Award (2016), winner of USAID / DAI Innovation into Action Challenge in 2016, Toyota Mother of Invention in 2015, and she is the Cartier Women’s Initiative Laureate 2012 for North America. She holds an MBA and MS in Systems Engineering from MIT. In addition, she has a BS in Computer Science and MS in Software Design and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

COURSE MODULES

    • Course Introduction 

    • Instructor Introduction

    • Case Studies

    • This module addresses the top 100 words needed to care for someone with dementia.

    • It is translated into English, Spanish, Arabic, Somali, Chinese, Korean, Haitian Creole, and Russian.

    • These are the most common languages spoken by caregivers throughout the United States.

    • Printed out, this also serves as a guide for caregivers who do not speak the same language to be able to point to a word in their language while the other caregiver sees the word in their own language.

    • Overview of dementia as a medical condition

    • Progression of disease

    • Balancing dementia with other co-morbidities

    • We like to say that it all begins with how you open the door. What used to be known as common courtesy and etiquette becomes a vital communication tool when dealing with someone with cognitive impairment.

    • Many of the dementias such as CTE, FTD, and others have behavior problems as one of their challenges.

    • It is often the staff person’s behavior that provokes the resident’s behavior.

    • Likes/dislikes

    • Current habits/past habits: PWD profile

    • Person-oriented, not just task-oriented

    • PWD's regular communication

    • PWD's typical and preferred day

    • Altered mental status

    • Effective communication with PWD is essential for preserving their quality of life and improving their overall well-being.

    • It empowers them to express needs and preferences when they can be understood and enhances the care they receive.

    • Additionally, clear communication supports caregivers, facilitates early intervention, reduces the need for medication-based behavior management and contributes to better dementia care and patient-centered outcomes

    • This module is intended for staff who wish to be trained as care navigators.

    • Learners must complete modules 1 thru 7 (this Care Navigation module) and commit to and complete 10 hours of experiential training consisting of in-person shadowing of a care navigator, review of case studies, and supervised interaction with PWD/families

This course consists of 3 sections to fulfill the 10+ hour training requirement and the 10+ hour practicum requirement of the GUIDE program.

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Section 1: covers the knowledge and skills needed to serve as a dementia care navigator.

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Section 2: covers knowledge needed by caregivers so that care navigators can address any concerns and questions from the caregivers.

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Section 3: provides case studies requiring question and response discussions to fulfill the practicum requirement. Additional interactive workshops can be scheduled upon request.

Section 1: Care Navigator Knowledge & Skills

Section 2: Caregiver Perspectives

  • Fully understand dementia from the patient's perspective. Understand the science behind how different types of dementia progress, and why you need to know in order to plan for appropriate care.

     

    1: What is dementia

    • Defining dementia

    • Brain & functions

    • Normal VS dementia brain

    • Normal VS brain with Alzheimer’s Disease

    ​

    2: Warning signs - how do you know if it’s dementia

    • Normal aging

    • Warning signs that something is not right

    • Why do you need to care about delirium

    • What causes delirium

    • Delirium compared to dementia

    • Story Time: Sandwich Guy

    • Moving from delirium to dementia

    • Dementia warning signs

    • What do you do if you think it’s dementia?

     

    3: Dementing diseases

    • Defining the Dementing Diseases

    • Alzheimer's Disease

    • Vascular Dementia

    • Lewy Body Dementia

    • Story Time: Robin Williams

    • Parkinson's Disease Dementia

    • Frontotemporal Dementia (Pick's Disease)

    • Story Time: Misdiagnoses caused prison-time

    • Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

    • Mixed Dementia

    • Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

    • Dementing diseases & other medical conditions

    • What to do when the family says “do everything”

     

    4: Ways to manage the brain

    • How to protect your brain

    • Slowing down the disease progression

    • Evidence-based ways to entertain the dementia brain

    • Story Time: Folding laundry

     

    FAQs

    • Sudden confusion case study

     

    Checklist: Warning signs for dementia

     

    To-do

  • Assess your current situation so you can prepare for what to do.

     

    1: Why do you need to know the current situation

    • Why is knowing your current situation important?

    • Where do you think you are?

    • Where do you want to be?

    • Story Time: Dementia staging myths

     

    2: Fill out the CareBrains assessment

    • CareBrains Assessment

    • Assessment sections

    • Fill out the assessment together

    • What do the results mean?

    • How do you know when it is time to make a move to another care setting?

    • Story Time: Enough is enough

     

    3: Care options

    • Types of care providers

    • Home care

    • Home health care

    • Assisted living

    • Memory care

    • Story Time: Young onset Alzheimer’s

    • Acute rehab

    • Subacute rehab

    • Long term care/snf/nursing home

    • CCRC/lifecare community

    • Active adult community

    • Independent living

    • Story Time: Hip replacement

     

    FAQs

    • How do I know something needs to change?

    • What do you do next when you are aware something needs to change?

    • My loved one wants to go home, but I don’t think that’s the best option

    • Home care or assisted living?

     

    Checklist: Care Facility Evaluation

     

    To-do: Identify appropriate care options

  • Go through the importance of lining up legal documents first, so that you have the authority to setup the planning actions and get funding for care needs.

     

    1: Why you need the legal documents

    • Why you need the legal documents first?

    • Story Time: When the legal documents were not done correctly

    • Story Time: Who can pay for care

     

    2: What legal documents are needed

    • Legal documents

    • Will

    • Health care proxy / Healthcare Power of Attorney

    • Durable Power of Attorney

    • Advanced directive

    • MOLST/POST/POLST

     

    3: What do you do with the legal documents once you have them

    • Store them

    • Communicate them

    • Story Time: Brain dead & no documents

     

    4: Legal scenarios

    • POA not available

    • Planning for spouses

    • Having the conversation about “quality of life”

     

    FAQs

    • What’s a will vs living trust vs estate planning

    • Do I need to be high net worth to make estate planning worthwhile?

    • How much does it cost? Do I really need a lawyer?

    • When do I go to a lawyer vs a financial advisor?

    • What if I already have a financial advisor and did all these? Do I need to revisit?

     

    Checklist

     

    To-do

  • 1: Budget for care services

    • Considerations

    • Types and costs

    • Case study: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

    • Case study: Dementia with Parkinsonism

    • Case study: Early onset Alzheimer’s

    • Stories

     
    2: Financing options

    • Medicare/Medicaid

    • Long-term care

    • Savings and assets

    • Proceeds from selling a home

    • Bridge loan

    • Veteran’s benefits

    • Selling or borrowing against a life insurance policy

    • Government programs

     
    3 Aid services

    • Social security compassionate allowance

    • Veterans Aid and Attendance

    • Government programs

    • Stories

     
    FAQs

    • What if I don’t have a financial advisor?

    • How do I know if my financial advisor can help?

     
    Checklist

    • Optimizing your finances

     
    To-do

    • Work with your financial advisor

    • Make sure your lawyer and financial advisor are working together

  • 1. Components of the action plan

    • Why an action plan at this stage?

    • Categories to consider

      • Care options

      • Financing

      • Legal

      • Others

    • Planning for different scenarios

      • What are the likely scenarios:

        • Short-term

        • Mid-term

        • Long-term

        • Likely scenarios to prepare for: hospitalization, financial changes

     

    2. Barriers to creating a plan

    • Denial

    • Promises

     

    3. Action plan for care planning

    • Does a loved one have dementia?

      • If so, which disease(s) and stage?

      • Expected trajectory and timeframe

      • Get legal documents

      • Setup financing

      • If not, line up legal and finance, then get a diagnosis

    • Create binder/folder/e-documents with legal, financial, MOLST forms

    • Find the appropriate care

    • Apply for the care

    • Get ready to move

    • Prepared to talk with family members and professionals who make up care team

     

    4. Action plan for your loved one

    • At home:

      • Activities of daily living

      • IADL

      • Loneliness

      • Meaningful engagement

      • Emergency plan

      • Monitoring methods

    • If loved one needs to move:

      • At the new location, also make sure to address the above

     

    FAQs

     

    Checklist

     

    To-do: Fill out the action plan

  • 1. Why communications is the biggest challenge in dementia care journey

    • Who you need to communicate with

    • Why is it hard

    • Challenges

     

    2. Strategies to communicate and understand your loved one

    • Communication barriers

    • Communication tips

    • Dementia interpreter

    • Story Time: Understanding “word salad”

     

    3. Strategies to communicate with the care teams

    • Strategy overview / the how

      • Determine who needs to know what (honestly)

      • Share the facts

      • Communicate known roles and responsibilities

      • Go over action plan

      • Go over shared responsibilities, who is doing what when

      • Update the action plan with care team member tasks and keep appropriate people updated

    • How to resolve disagreements among the professional care team

     

    4. Strategies to communicate with family members

    • Strategy overview / the how

      • Establish in your mind the order of topics

      • Establish that you are knowledgeable in this area of caring for your loved one, by briefing on the topics

      • Establish roles and responsibilities and are these appropriate

      • Go over action plan

      • Go over shared responsibilities

      • Update the action plan accordingly

    • How to resolve disagreements among family members

    • When do I need outside professional help

     

    FAQs

     

    To-do: Update your action plan accordingly

  • Know your options for a variety of services.

     

    1. Service options

    • May options both paid/free are available

    2. Assisted living

    • How to evaluate 

    • Qualifications

    • Costs

    3. Memory care

    • How to evaluate ​

    • Qualifications

    • Costs

    4. Home care

    • How to evaluate ​

    • Qualifications

    • Costs

    5. CCRC/Life care communities

    • How to evaluate ​

    • Qualifications

    • Costs​

    6. Senior housing

    • How to evaluate ​

    • Qualifications

    • Costsentify appropriate care options

  • 1. Signs to call an ambulance

    • Stroke signs

    • Falls

    • Altered mental status

     
    2. What to do while waiting for the ambulance

    • Pack a go-bag

    • Pack the “binder”

     
    3. What to tell the health teams

    • The ER team

    • The admit personnel

    • Magic words to say

    • Know the difference between “observation” and “admit”

     
    4. During hospital stay

    • What to say

    • What to show

    • What to look out for

    • Start preparing for the discharge

    • Checklist

     
    5. Before leaving the hospital (discharge)

    • Why this matters the most?

    • Considerations

    • Options

    • Checklist


    To-do

    • Have go-bag prepared

    • Have documents prepared

  • 1. When to change the plan

    • Triggers for re-assessment of the loved one

      • Something looks different or wrong (the disease doesn’t seem to progress as expected – is the diagnosis wrong?)

      • Safety concerns

      • Change in behavior

      • Is it delirium?

    • Story: progressing disease

     

    2. Planning for different scenarios

    • What are the likely scenarios:

      • Short-term

      • Mid-term

      • Long-term

    • Legal

    • Financial

    • People changes

    • Professional caregiver

    • Hospitalization

     

    3. How to change the plan

    • Re-assess:

      • CareBrains assessment

      • Re-do detailed cognitive assessment

      • Scenario updates

      • Re-assess financial

      • Re-assess legal

    • Review earlier steps

     

    FAQs

     

    To-do: Update your plan accordingly

Section 3: Practicum

  • ​Case studies with discussion Q&As

    • Answer questions on the full course to complete course requirements

    • Provide feedback to help make the course more useful for you and your colleagues

Tuition

Tuition for this course is listed below. You may register through our secure online environment and will receive an email confirmation upon receipt of your payment. Prices include certificate, electronic syllabus and access to course content through CareBrains app or web portal.

 

Refunds, less an administrative fee of $45, will be issued for all cancellations received prior to starting the course. Refund requests must be made by email to carebrains@clickmedix.com.

On-Demand Instant Access

$200

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Certified Dementia Care Navigator (CDCN)

In support of CMS GUIDE program, this certification program complies with GUIDE requirements to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills for those delivering dementia care management and care navigator services. 

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