Teaching Dementia Care Skill and Understanding

Dementia afflicts millions of Americans and deeply affects the lives of their loved ones. Good care has been proven to have a significant effect on the quality of life of a person with dementia. To ensure good care, staff members of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and adult day-care centers, and providers of home care must be thoroughly and continually trained by qualified and well-prepared professionals.

Nancy L. Mace, coauthor of The 36-Hour Day, has created the ultimate teachers' guide for dementia care training. Rich with information and with tools for effective communication between teacher and student, the text supplies instructors with in-depth lessons and includes relevant charts, tables, and handouts, which may be customized to suit specific programs.

Good training is the foundation for a confident and competent caregiver and supports the dignity and well-being of persons with dementia and their families. With her unmistakable compassion, humor, and wisdom, Mace has provided a much-needed guidebook for better teaching and better care.

Nancy L. Mace, MA, is retired. She was a consultant to and member of the board of directors of the Alzheimer's Association and an assistant in psychiatry and coordinator of the T. Rowe and Eleanor Price Teaching Service of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.