Atlanta, GA & Colleyville, TX – AGE-u-cate Training Institute (www.AGEucate.com) has been awarded $422, 900 in Civil Monetary Penalty funding by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help 66 North Carolina Nursing homes improve care to residents with dementia. Atlanta, GA & Colleyville, TX – AGE-u-cate Training Institute (www.AGEucate.com) has been awarded $422, 900 in Civil Monetary Penalty funding by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help 66 North Carolina Nursing homes improve care to residents with dementia.
The one-year project is titled “Compassionate Touch: A Practical, Non-Pharmacological Approach to Ease Behavioral Symptoms, thereby Supporting Nursing Homes’ Efforts to Minimize the Use of Antipsychotic Medications for Dementia-related Behaviors.”
Compassionate Touch® is an approach combining skilled touch and specialized communication shown to prevent behavioral expression in people with dementia and reduce job stress in care-partners.
The goal of this project is to equip staff working in 66 North Carolina nursing homes with practical skilled touch techniques to incorporate in daily care routines. Compassionate Touch training will also be conducted for North Carolina state surveyors, Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and North Carolina Quality Improvement Organization.
There is an urgent need to better support persons living with dementia and we look forward to working with North Carolina nursing homes,” says Pam Brandon, AGE-u-cate’s President and Founder. “This program offers simple, yet effective, tools for care partners to connect with, calm and comfort those they are caring for living with dementia.”
The Compassionate Touch program was developed by Ann Catlin, OTR, LMT, a leading expert in the field of skilled touch in eldercare and hospice. Drawing on 30 years’ experience, Ann has guided professionals and organizations to rediscover ‘touch-as-medicine’ in person-centered dementia care.
About AGE-u-cate Training Institute
AGE-u-cate Training Institute develops and delivers innovative, research-based aging and dementia training programs for professional and family caregivers. Training is delivered across the United States and internationally in long term care hospitals, in-home, hospice, and community-based organizations as well as universities.
AGE-u-cate contact: Renee Riffey, Director of Client Engagement 817.857.1157 x 204, renee@AGEucate.com
NC Department of Health and Human Services contact: Becky Wertz, Section Chief Division of Health Service Regulation, Nursing Home Licensure and Certification Section 919.855.4580, becky.wertz@dhhs.nc.gov
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