HB 456 – Establish Mandatory Dementia Care Training
Primary Sponsor: Rep. John Torbett (R – Gaston)
This bill would require adult care homes and nursing homes to provide dementia care training to direct care staff, administrative staff, and non-direct care staff and establishing minimum standards for such training.
The bill states that within 60 days from the date of each hire, each hired adult care home staff person must complete the initial dementia care training.
The bill’s required training for direct care staff would include instruction on all of the following topics:
- Dementia: including the progression of the disease, memory loss, and psychiatric and behavioral symptoms
- Strategies for providing person-centered care
- Communication issues
- Techniques for understanding and approaching behavioral symptoms including alternatives to physical and chemical restraints
- Strategies for addressing social needs and providing meaningful activities
- Information on how to address care, safety, pain, food, fluid, and wandering
The bill also requires some training for non-direct care providers as well. In this bill, non-direct providers would be required to be instructed on the following topics:
- Dementia: including the progression of the disease, memory loss, and psychiatric and behavioral symptoms
- Strategies for providing person-centered care
The bill would require The Division of Health Service Regulations to standardize all training programs, including online programs.