New toolkit guides professionals, others in scenarios involving dementia

June 21, 2018 | By Diane Farsetta

Sarah Endicott, DNP, RN, GNP-BC, with DNP students
Sarah Endicott, DNP, RN, GNP-BC, clinical assistant professor and geriatric nurse practitioner, discussing a dementia simulation with DNP students. Photo by Alex André

Six scenarios are included in the “Dementia Friendly Toolkit: Role Play Simulations for Care and Community Settings” from the Center for Aging Research and Education (CARE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing. CARE has distributed toolkits throughout the state, and now 52 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties now have a business or organization using the toolkit to better serve individuals with dementia and their families. The toolkit is available on the CARE website.

“I am very proud of how quickly the toolkits have gotten out into communities,” says Barb King, an associate professor in the School of Nursing and CARE director. “We are in 52 counties. That kind of distribution in less than a year shows the huge demand and the desire people have to make clinics, businesses and agencies more supportive of people living with dementia.”

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