Because of Dementia Care Specialists training, these facilities experienced increases in independent living abilities and patient satisfaction among individuals under care, as well as reductions in the use of behavior medications and falls and related injuries. The facilities also report reduced staff turnover and increased employee satisfaction. Read more about their progress below.
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 Following a rise in cognitive and behavioral disturbances among the client population at the 120-bed Ayers Health and Rehabilitation Center in northwest Florida, administrator Jo Buckles recognized the need for a staff that was knowledgeable and skilled in dementia care. So when Florida's long-term-care trust fund offered grant funding to facilities that took steps to improve the quality of life for its residents, Buckles surveyed the available training programs and chose Dementia Care Specialists (DCS) to educate the staff.
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 Like many in her nursing profession, Barbie Moore entered the field with the intention of providing quality health care in a compassionate manner that truly helped improve patients' lives. But it wasn't until well into her career that she found the guidance to institutionalize that approach.
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 Mary Jean Lafata was presented with a challenge by a home care physician at CNS Home Health & Hospice, a full-service home health affiliate of Central DuPage Hospital in northwest suburban Chicago, where she manages all therapists.
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 In his more than two decades as a manager and clinician in skilled nursing facilities, Maxwell Perkins, MS, OTR/L, has seen a great variety of dementia care training and continuing education programs being marketed. As Director of Clinical Services for Infinity Rehab in Portland, OR (a contract therapy company operating approximately 150 facilities in eight states providing occupational, speech, and physical therapy), Perkins is passionate about education and continually on the lookout for innovative and evidence-based training therapists can apply to their practice areas. When it came to effective dementia care, Perkins noticed a gap in conventional therapist training.
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 As National Director of Clinical Development for Legacy Healthcare Services of Raleigh, NC, Ann Irwin was part of a group of 70 Legacy employees and affiliates to attend Dementia Therapy: Achieving Positive Outcomes for the Dementia Patient in order to increase their skills as clinicians. With estimates that up to 80 percent of skilled nursing facility patients have some degree of dementia, Irwin recognized the critical need for enhanced staff training in long-term care settings.
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