HHA Dementia Specialty

USDOL

National (OA)

Documents

Individual state requirements may vary. Please contact your local apprenticeship office to ensure this version is suitable to your state’s requirements.

Work Process Schedule

Work Process Content

On the Job Training

Anonymous

Skills

Role of the HHA in Caring for Cognitively Impaired Clients

Use care plan for interventions and report interventions and their result to the supervisor and family
Monitor and document episodes of targeted behaviors and/or new behaviors
Recognize signs of stress and strategies for coping within self, other caregivers and family members

Demonstrate Effective Communication & Interaction with Cognitively Impaired Clients and their Families

Demonstrate redirecting a client
Demonstrate use of validation therapy
Verbalize and demonstrate various approaches for a client who is resisting personal care that will maintain dignity and respect
Demonstrate appropriate interventions for client who is yelling or screaming
Demonstrate therapeutic communication with significant others
Demonstrate coaching techniques to help other caregivers and family members cope with the dementia process

Provide Assistance with Independence, Mobility, and Therapeutic Activities

Demonstrate use of therapeutic activities/exercises to maintain joint function for the cognitively impaired client
Implement care strategies that encourage independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) without increasing client anxiety, respect the client’s dignity and desire for control
Implement therapeutic activities appropriate for early, middle, and late states of dementia
Demonstrate use of therapeutic activities to de-escalate a client who is anxious

Uses Nutritional Interventions to Enhance Nutritional Well Being

Demonstrate adapting meal preparation to maximize nutritional intake (i.e., offering small servings, finger foods, introducing foods one at a time, frequency meals, snacks, and fluids that are acceptable to cognitively impaired clients)
Explain modifications needed to maintain nutritional status

Psychoactive Medications and Side Effects

Describe basic features of psychoactive medications and their side effects
Demonstrate ability to observe, record and report side effects

Maintain a Safe Environment for Cognitively Impaired

Maintain a safe environment for wandering clients
Maintain safety from potential toxic substances that the confused client may attempt to ingest
Is able to implement interventions to minimize environmental stimuli that may increase a confused client’s agitation, (i.e., noise levels, large groups, television, and radio)

Related Instruction Outline

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