Since 1998, DCS has been leading the way to help people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias thrive, rather than just survive. President Kim Warchol OTR/L and the DCS team offer dementia care training that gives therapists and other health professionals the knowledge, skills, and resources to ensure the greatest level of function, safety, and quality of life for individuals with dementia and their caregivers.
Based on a “best abilities” approach, DCS training is rooted in the strong theoretical foundations of the Cognitive Disabilities Model developed by Claudia Allen and the Theory of Retrogenesis developed by Dr. Barry Reisberg. To date, over 4,000 health care professionals have participated in DCS training, which includes:
Interdisciplinary Training – How to Maximize Function and Well-Being for the Person With Dementia
This one-day course is designed for all team members working directly or indirectly with the individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementias, including CNAs, nursing, housekeepers, activities, administration, social workers, and dietary. The course places significant emphasis on the personhood of caregiving to demonstrate maximum results and offers clear, practical ways to individualize care approaches at each dementia stage.
Introductory Workshop – Dementia Therapy: Achieving Positive Outcomes for the Person With Dementia
This two-day course is for Occupational Therapists/COTAs, Physical Therapists/PTAs, Speech-Language Pathologists, and others who work with the geriatric dementia patient. The program presents a paradigm shift in which clinicians move from an impairment-based practice to an abilities-based practice to facilitate the improvement in function, safety, and quality of life needed for Medicare reimbursement. This course is also available in a self-study format.
Intermediate Workshop – Dementia Therapy: Intermediate Class
This course is designed for the Occupational Therapist/COTA, Physical Therapist/PTA and Speech Therapist who have some experience using the Allen Cognitive Disabilities theory with the geriatric dementia patient. The training challenges the therapist to achieve a greater understanding of how to apply both the Allen theory and the Theory of Retrogenesis to evaluation, treatment intervention, documentation, and programming.
Master Clinician Program
The Master Clinician Program offers clinicians the opportunity to achieve a level in which they are competent to practice independently, build a dementia caseload, and mentor others. The highly structured program requires applicant prescreening, specific education, and clinical experience. The structure includes an on-site skills evaluation, scheduled homework assignments, and a series of telephone consultations.
Consulting
In addition to training, DSC offers consulting services to help you and your organization transfer knowledge into daily care practices, documentation systems, and therapy specialization programs.
Additional Resources
DCS also offers a variety of dementia-related resources, including reference manuals, activity planning books, training videos, screening and maintenance forms, and cognitive assessment tools.
