Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia (2 CEU’s)

This unit contains information on Dementia. It contains presentation slides and additional readings and videos that you can access on the Internet.  The Modules presented will provide you information on behavioral symptoms of dementia.  These modules will help you to understand how dementia affects the brain, the behaviors that result from the damage to the brain, and how you can best care for residents who display various behavioral symptoms of dementia.

Module 1 provides you with an overview of normal memory changes with aging and the memory and behavior changes that are found in dementia.  You will learn what dementia means, the types of dementia, and how the different types of dementia may result in unique behavioral symptoms.

Module 2 discusses the common behavioral symptoms of dementia and the factors that should be examined as potential triggers for various behaviorsYou will learn about behavioral assessment in this module,

Module 3 introduces strategies for addressing various behaviors. The approaches to effective interventions generally depend on the factor(s) that triggered or exacerbate the behavior. This module highlights the causes/triggers most commonly associated with particular behaviors and the strategies for addressing them.

You are encouraged to utilize the readings and watch the videos suggested before each slide presentation in this manual. These materials will reinforce the information from the presentations and further your knowledge and skills in caring for residents with dementia.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this Module, you will be able to:

• Define “dementia”.

• Discuss two changes in memory that occur as a normal part of aging.

• List at least two symptoms of early dementia.

• List two irreversible causes of dementia and two reversible causes.

• Describe behavioral symptoms that are typically seen as dementia progresses (the five ”A”s of dementia).

• Identify and discuss the characteristics of  two common types of dementia

Instructions for taking the course

To complete the course successfully, you must go through all the lessons below. You MUST mark each lesson as complete by clicking the MARK COMPLETE BUTTON. If you do not click the mark complete button, you will not be allowed to proceed to the next lesson. Please notice that all lessons have a minimum set amount of time that you are expected to spend on each lesson. You will not be allowed to Mark the Lesson Complete until the timer resets to zero; that is, until the minimum time set for the course has passed. For example if lesson A has an allocated minimum time of 10 minutes, you will have to wait 10 minutes before you can mark Lesson A complete. The Mark Complete button for lesson A will be grayed out and will not become active until 10 minutes are over.

WARNINGIf you forget to click the Mark Complete button done, you will be prompted to go back to that lesson again and have to wait till the allocated timed minutes resets to zero again before the Mark Complete button becomes active. After all lessons are completed and they are Marked Completed, you will then be allowed to take the post test. If you successfully pass the quiz, you will earn CEU’s for this course and you can proceed to print out your certificate.

LESSONS & QUIZ BELOW