Glen Cove Hospital staff gets training on dealing with dementia

While workers at long-term care facilities may have been trained in dealing with dementia, that’s not necessarily the case with many healthcare professionals at hospitals, says Carol Steinberg, executive vice president of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

That’s why she says it was significant that 45 nurses and patient care associates at Glen Cove Hospital went through the 8- and 16-hour training sessions developed by the foundation’s Dementia Care Professionals of America division. On Tuesday, about 25 of them were honored for completing the course.

In the photo above, Elaine Evangelou-Soto, nurse manager for Patient Care Services at North Shore LIJ Glen Cove Hospital, presents patient care associate Diadrea Stewart with a pin to signify completion of a training course. (Photo courtesy Of NSLIJ Studios/Lee S.Weissman)

With a massive number of baby boomers facing old age and all that comes with it, it’s important for health care providers to understand the basics of the training, says Steinberg. That would include recognizing symptoms, how the disease progresses, managing behavioral problems, finding ways to communicate.

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