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With cases of dementia projected to triple by 2050, it’s more important than ever for senior caregivers to understand the condition and to acquire memory care skills. Recently, memory care certifications and training have become more widely available among independent care professionals, facility staff and to non-professional caregivers alike. That’s good news, not only for growing your personal skills and experience, but also for expanding your career options in memory care and senior care overall.
“We’re seeing incidents of Alzheimer’s and dementia continuing to tick up,” says Brian Browne, a neuroscience expert with over 20 years of experience in Alzheimer’s and dementia research and the founder of Dementia Care Education, a memory care program that has trained over 2,500 caregivers. “We know we should be preparing our workforce to deal with the tsunami that’s coming.”
More states have begun requiring dementia training among caregivers, making these courses especially vital throughout the industry. Here’s what you need to know about the kinds of memory care certifications that exist, what individual caregivers learn during these training sessions, who benefits from them and more.
Key takeaways
- Dementia cases are increasing in the U.S., with the number of diagnoses expected to triple by 2050. As such, it is essential for senior caregivers to seek out training and memory care certification to serve this growing population.
- Memory care certification teaches caregivers how to manage dementia symptoms with empathy, improve quality of life for people with dementia and meet growing state requirements for dementia-specific care.
- Many organizations offer trainings and certifications in memory care, including the Alzheimer’s Association, Dementia Care Education, CARES and more. Anyone from professional carers in facilities to non-professional family home caregivers can take the trainings and become certified.
- Completing memory care training will ensure you’re better equipped to support seniors who have dementia with their daily activities and to address their unique needs through a lens of person-centered care.
What is memory care certification?
Memory care training provides skills for caregivers who work with adults who have dementia, which is an umbrella term that refers to a decline in memory, language and other faculties that interferes with a person’s capacity to live their life normally.
Many organizations offer memory care certification and training, including the Alzheimer’s Association and CARES. A widely recognized baseline certification for professional caregivers is the Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) training from the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners, which involves taking an eight-hour seminar conducted by approved instructors.
“Memory care certification results in tools for helping older adults with dementia feel supported and meaningfully engaged throughout the day. We are empowering them so that they can tailor their care.”
— Sharon Shields-Rios, senior living health care operations expert
Anyone from professional carers in facilities to non-professional family home caregivers can take memory care trainings and become certified. However, choosing the right program is important. “You have to do [your] due diligence,” Browne explains. “There are programs out there that don’t have the credentials and don’t have robust materials, so it takes some research. Look for word of mouth [referrals] and for other companies vouching for them.”
How to become a memory care specialist
Memory care certification is frequently offered online, with each program varying in cost and time commitment.
For example, Alzheimer’s Association EssentiALZ training lasts three hours, is self-paced and cost $60, while CARES offers several levels of memory care training, ranging from a four-hour Dementia Certification course to a 40-hour CARES Dementia Specialist Credential (CDS) course.
What do you learn in memory care training?
During memory care training, caregivers learn how to recognize and manage dementia symptoms while deepening their empathy toward patients. Immersive learning is common, allowing caregivers to develop tools and strategies for helping seniors work through frustration and memory loss, explains Sharon Shields-Rios, a senior living executive and expert in senior living health care operations.
The AGEucate Training Institute, for instance, offers sessions in which students wear virtual reality glasses in order to see the world through a patient’s eyes. Users experience the same yellowing of vision and disorientation that frequently affects dementia patients. Other programs offer aromatherapy or sensory training.
“I’ve seen people get angry and walk away during these trainings,” explains Shields-Rios. “I’ve seen tears because it’s hard to process what our loved ones or patients are going through.”
But that’s also why the education is vital. Memory care certification results in tools for helping older adults with dementia feel supported and meaningfully engaged throughout the day, she notes. “We are empowering them so that they can tailor their care.”
Why do I need memory care certification?
A caregiver completing memory care training “will absolutely come to the table with an advantage,” says Emily Shubeck, a director and care quality expert at the Alzheimer’s Association. In addition to arming caregivers with more skills to care for dementia patients, memory care certification sends the message that workers are taking their career to the next level.
Securing more and better job opportunities
According to the American Health Care Association, only 11% of assisted living communities exclusively serve individuals with dementia, thereby broadening opportunities for caregivers with training. Many facilities also require and therefore pay for this training for employees. And if you’re ever seeking employment in a care facility, having memory care certification will give you a leg up in the hiring and skills process.
“We offer training for employees, usually because they can’t afford it, but of course it’s more beneficial for us if they’re a CDP and have this training,” says Shields-Rios. “If they already understand what it takes to care for someone with memory care issues, that’s icing on the cake.”
Providing the highest level of dementia care
In addition to the career benefits, Browne asserts that memory care certification can actually be life-saving. For instance, he explains, a caregiver who isn’t specifically trained in memory loss might not know that an older adult with dementia or Alzheimer’s could have difficulty swallowing. “They [could] offer wrong-sized foods or force fluids down in a manner that’s conducive for aspiration or choking,” he notes. “We’ve seen people suffer from aspiration pneumonia because of a lack of training.”
Getting memory care certification can ensure you’re better equipped to support seniors who have dementia… and to address their unique challenges through a lens of person-centered care.
What states require memory care certification?
There is no national requirement for memory care certification, but some states and individual employers do require licensure. According to the most recently available data from Justice in Aging, 23 states require dementia training for all staff nursing home staff, while 44 require dementia care training for assisted living staff.
Washington state has historically been a leader in dementia care training legislation, requiring all care professionals who come into contact with dementia patients to undergo rigorous dementia training. Other states, such as Ohio and Michigan, only require this training for carers operating in specialized dementia units.
“The biggest barriers [to memory care training] right now aren’t the cost or accessibility,” notes Browne. “The barrier to training is the fact that we have some states that see the data and want to get ahead of it — those states are putting in legislation that says anybody who is working with anyone with dementia needs to go through training and certification — but other states are not touching it.”
The landscape is continually evolving and will continue to do so as the need for memory care providers grows. But, regardless of your state’s laws, you and your clients could benefit tremendously from an advanced memory care skill set.
As Shubeck concludes, completing training and getting memory care certification can ensure you’re better equipped to support seniors who have dementia with their daily activities and to address their unique challenges through a lens of person-centered care.
