Comprehensive Dementia Certification: Clinical Applications for Healthcare Professionals

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Handouts/Brochure

Speaker

Edward G. Shaw, MD, MA Related seminars and products

Empath Education, LLC

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Edward G. Shaw, MD, MA, is dually trained as a physician and mental health counselor. He was the primary care partner for his late wife, Rebecca, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2007 at age 53 and died in 2016 after a 9-year journey. Ed was a practicing academic radiation oncologist for 23 years, specializing in the treatment of adults and children with brain cancer. In 2010, inspired by Rebecca’s journey, his medical interest shifted to dementia diagnosis and treatment, and with his additional training in mental health counseling, he founded the Memory Counseling Program in 2011, part of the Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine and the Sticht Center on Healthy Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The program serves individuals, couples, and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia.

He is the author of four books. Along with coauthors Deborah Barr and Dr. Gary Chapman, he wrote Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade: The 5 Love Languages and the Alzheimer’s Journey, which describes his moving personal story of care for Rebecca coupled with an innovative use of the 5 love languages in dementia counseling. He also wrote The Dementia Care Partner’s Workbook, a support group manual and self-study guide for dementia care partners, providing understanding, education, and hope for the long journey of dementia caregiving from diagnosis through end-of-life. He has also co-authored two resources for support group leaders, A Leader’s Manual for Dementia Care Partner Support Groups and A Support Group for People Living with Dementia: The Leaders Manual.

Dr. Shaw now devotes more time to public speaking, educating, and encouraging seniors, people living with dementia and their care partners, and medical/mental health/other healthcare professionals working in the fields of aging and dementia. He is also a part-time geriatric mental health counselor at New Salem Counseling in Winston-Salem and a PESI speaker for many years, on a variety of topics related to geriatrics and dementia.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Edward Shaw is an Emeritus Professor with Wake Forest School of Medicine and receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has stock ownership in Embodied Labs. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Edward Shaw is a member of American Counseling Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and the Society for Neuro-Oncology.

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Outline

Delve into the brain (cognitive function), normal brain (cognitive) aging, and cognitive function testing  

• What do the 4 brain lobes do 

• 5 main cognitive functions 

• Normal cognitive aging 

• Mild cognitive impairment 

• Differentiating normal cognitive aging from MCI now so important 

• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as the gold standard for global cognitive assessment 

Differentiate Dementia: Types, Stages & Diagnosis  

• Differentiate the types of dementia: Alzheimer’s, vascular, frontotemporal, and Lewy body 

• Describe the molecular classification of dementia based on pathologic proteins: Amyloid, tau, TDP43, alpha synuclein, including LATE, the newly discovered type of dementia 

• What is a PET scan and how are PET scans of different types used to diagnose dementia 

• New blood tests that are used to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease 

• What are the stages of dementia 

• How does functional decline occur in people living with dementia & how does this impact care needs 

• Current standard of care for office-based dementia screening and dementia diagnosis 

Medications for Symptom Control  

• FDA approved drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease 

• Future of drug development look like for Alzheimer’s and other dementias 

• Newly approved medications to treat the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia 

Non-medication, Attachment-based Approaches to Address Behavioral Challenges 

• Attachment science to understand common behavior challenges that occur in people living with dementia 

• Essential communication skills needed to better care for people living with dementia 

• Skill of patience to address dementia-related challenging behaviors (DRCBs) 

• The approach of acknowledge-affirm-redirect use to manage DRCBs 

• 5 love languages for DRCBs and caregiver support 

• Mindfulness-based stress reduction for DRCBs and caregiver support 

Supporting Caregivers  

• What are the 8 central needs of dementia care partners 

• Caregiver grief and loss experience and contrast it to the grief and loss experience of death 

• How family care partners support one another in their roles/responsibilities  

• How can healthcare professionals support family care partners  

End-of-Life Considerations in the Person Living with Dementia  

• Key end-of-life issues that need to be addressed in people living with dementia 

• Challenges that occur in seniors and their adult children addressing these issues 

• When is the best time to address end-of-life issues in dementia 

• What is the difference between DNR and MOST/POLST forms

Objectives

1. Apply an understanding of brain structure and cognitive assessment/function to differentiate between normal cognitive aging and early-stage dementia. 

2. Differentiate between the major types of dementia based on clinical symptoms and molecular features. 

3. Distinguish between medications used to treat (i.e., slow the progression) Alzheimer’s disease versus those used for symptom control (i.e., manage neuropsychiatric symptoms). 

4. Apply non-medication-based strategies to the most common challenging behaviors that occur in people living with early-, middle-, and late-stage dementia. 

5. Demonstrate knowledge of the 8 central needs of dementia caregivers and utilize this information to enhance family support of clients/patients/residents living with dementia.  

6. Demonstrate a greater understanding of the broad range of end-of-life issues that people with dementia and their family care partners are faced with and must plan for in late-stage dementia.

Target Audience

• Registered Nurses
• Nurse Practitioners
• Clinical Nurse Specialists
• Physician Assistants
• Physical Therapists
• Physical Thearpist Assistants
• Occupational Therapists
• Occupational Thearpist Assistants
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Social Workers
• Counselors
• Nursing Home Administrators