A one-hour introductory workshop specifically designed for healthcare personnel. This would be an extremely useful presentation to host at your Memory Care, Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living or Independent Living Facilities for hired caregivers of all experience levels. It would be a great way to introduce dementia care to new employees during on-boarding as well as a means to refresh dementia-centered care to experienced employees.

Topics Covered:

- Basic anatomy of a normal brain vs. a brain with a neurocognitive disorder.

- How the changes to the brain structure and function impact one’s cognitive abilities leading to the deterioration we see as caregivers.

- Physical approach and functional communication strategies to utilize during every caregiving interaction to maximize quality of life and care.

- Empathetic approach to caregiving.

- Working through difficult caregiving challenges such as wandering and resisting care as a team (village).

- Working with families to learn the most about our patients to improve the level of patient-specific care we provide.

- Coping strategies to reduce caregiver burnout.

This introductory workshop is for any and all caregivers of those living with dementia: family, friends, neighbors, healthcare workers, etc. We will discuss: 

- Various types of dementia 

- How different dementias impact different cognitive abilities

- Distinguish between progressive and potentially reversible dementias

- The Global Deterioration scale to improve awareness and understanding of progressive dementias

- Functional communication skills to utilize during every caregiving interaction

- Differentiating between dementia vs depression vs delirium in the elderly

- Approaching dementia care from a patient-centered perspective to improve quality of life and care of those living with dementia

The overall goal of the workshop is to improve knowledge and awareness of dementias to therefore foster a more person-centered, empathetic approach to dementia care.

This two-hour workshop is solely focused on taking care of yourself in the midst of caring for another living with dementia. It is very common for caregivers to lose track of their own health and well-being as they are focused so much on those they care for.

This workshop is designed to address:

- “Putting on your own mask first".

- Coping with the intense stress that can be associated with caring for someone else living with dementia.

- Working through the common misconception that caring for yourself is “selfish”.

- Daily lifestyle habits to work into your daily, weekly, or even monthly routine to improve your level of self-care.

- Support-group style conversation with other caregivers to share your own caregiving experiences with those in a similar situation as yourself.

I received a very thoughtful request to develop this workshop and support-group style event. This event will allow a space for caregivers to come together to share their experiences, feelings, and thoughts on caring for someone living with dementia.

The primary goals of this event will be:

- Provide a safe, non-judgmental space to allow caregivers to share any and all emotions that arise during their caregiving experiences.

- Learning how to cope with the loss of a loved one while they are still alive due to the progressive nature of this disorder.

- Learning to cope with the loss of a loved one after they have passed after having had this disorder.

- Learning to cope with guilt during the caregiving experience that may arise due to feelings of overwhelm, uncertainty, etc.

Call/text at 317-586-8089 or email at lauren@alwaysavillage.com to schedule one of these events at your facility or organization.

Follow this website’s “Events” tab as well as Always a Village’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages for updates on upcoming events!

If any of these events sound interesting but you would like the information for a family mediation/family meeting type session, please feel free to reach out at 317-586-8089 or email at lauren@alwaysavillage.com so we can set up a family meeting.