Professional Caregiver Education
Workshops 1 and 2
Alzheimer Society of Durham Region offers a two-part training program for professional caregivers. These interactive workshops, each three hours in length, were developed to engage Personal Support Workers, Health Care Aids and other professional caregivers around the issues that arise when providing care for persons with dementia.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about communication skills, managing challenging behaviours, and supporting the family. They will be introduced to problem solving using the U-First! wheel.  Certificates of participation will be issued to those in attendance.

Please see our Calendar of Events page to view dates for upcoming sessions. Registration is required. Please call early to reserve a spot, as space is limited.

Topic Specific Education
We are happy to tailor education sessions on a variety of topics to meet your education needs. These can be provided in-house, through information packages or 1:1 discussion. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• What if it’s not Alzheimer Disease? Understanding Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemporal dementia.
• Advanced Care Planning Understanding issues related to decision making capacity and consent
• Montessori-based approaches to dementia programming
• Creative communication strategies
• Creative problem solving using the U-First! Wheel (includes P.I.E.C.E.S acronym)
• Emotional and behavioral responses to dementia
• Research update
• Dementia refresher

….and many more

Contact our Education Coordinator to request one or more sessions.

Enhancing Care
The Enhancing Care Program is an assessment process that assists staff in long-term care facilities in identifying how their facility is meeting the Guidelines for Care. Members of a multidisciplinary team review each guideline and determine areas of strength and areas in need of improvement. In those areas where the team feels they do well, new and creative ways of providing quality care are shared with others in their organization to enhance expertise. In those areas requiring improvement the assessment process assists the team in developing specific goals to enhance care.

Dementia Studies Certificate Program
The Alzheimer Society supports this certificate program which is designed for professional caregivers currently working in the long-term care field. This program is offered at Durham College through the Continuing Education Department. For further information, please contact Durham College.

Striking a Balance Caregivers Conference
Our Striking a Balance Caregivers' Conference, offered in partnership with Community Care Durham, is a one-day event that gives caregivers the practical tools they need. We will soon be planning for the May 2008 conference.