Dementia, Cognitive Impairment & Therapeutic Communication

This four-hour online continuing education course prepares California Certified Nurse Assistants to deliver safe, compassionate, person-centered care to residents living with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment in skilled nursing facilities and long-term care settings.

The course begins by distinguishing normal age-related cognitive changes from signs of cognitive impairment and dementia, providing CNAs with a working awareness of common dementia types — including Alzheimer’s disease — at a level appropriate to their scope of practice. The course then emphasizes the central principles of person-centered dementia care: knowing the individual resident, preserving dignity and autonomy, and promoting the highest level of independent function. Therapeutic communication — including verbal and nonverbal strategies, redirection, and validation approaches — is taught as a foundational skill for de-escalation and supportive interaction.

The third module addresses behavioral expressions as communication, examining how unmet physical and emotional needs and environmental triggers produce behaviors such as agitation, resistance to care, repetitive questioning, wandering, and elopement risk. The fourth module focuses on the critical distinction between chronic dementia and acute delirium, equipping CNAs to recognize sudden cognitive or behavioral changes that may indicate a medical emergency, and to report objective findings promptly and accurately. The course concludes with resident rights, abuse and neglect prevention, family communication, and objective documentation within CNA scope.

Throughout the course, the CNA’s role is presented as Observe → Protect → Perform Authorized Care → Document as Permitted → Report, consistent with California scope-of-practice requirements.