UWs Dementia Support Center to Host Workshop Oct. 2

A workshop to help attendees better understand dementia and its effects on people with intellectual disabilities is planned Oct. 2-4 in Laramie.

The University of Wyoming’s Dementia Support Center, part of the Wyoming Center on Aging, will host “Dementia Capable Care of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia” at the Holiday Inn, located at 204 S. 30th St. The workshop is based on the newly developed, evidence-informed National Task Group Education and Training Curriculum on Dementia and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

The workshop is appropriate for anyone in health care, aging- or disability-related agencies who have care responsibilities of older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Individuals with intellectual disabilities and dementia are at high risk of having unmet needs because dementia in people with intellectual disabilities is sometimes difficult to recognize and diagnose,” says Robin Barry, director of the Dementia Support Center. “The purpose of this workshop is to help provide professionals with the necessary knowledge to provide dementia-capable care for people with intellectual disabilities.”

Attendees can choose to attend a two-day foundation workshop -- at a cost of $50 per person -- or a three-day train-the-trainer workshop, which includes the foundation workshop, for $75 per person. Registration fees have been discounted through support of a grant from the Administration for Community Living. To register, go to www.regonline.com/dementiacapablelaramie.

Kathleen Bishop and Kathryn Pears, of the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices, will lead workshop sessions. Topics will include the challenges of diagnosing dementia in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities; how dementia impacts the ability to function; diagnostic protocols; key concepts of dementia-capable care of adults with intellectual disabilities and dementia; communication tips and strategies; and dementia-specific environmental modifications to help support function.

For more information, visit the Wyoming Center on Aging website at www.uwyo.edu/wycoa, call (307) 766-2829, or email wycoa@uwyo.edu.