Dementia Training Delivered to Concord Fire Department

From the person with dementia who gets lost, to a call that someone with dementia has assaulted his caregiver, or to an medical emergency with an elder who no longer can speak due to their dementia, local first responders encounter people with Alzheimer’s Disease and other types of dementia on a regular basis. But understanding how to successfully handle this special population is not always easy or intuitive to figure out on their own.

But that has changed. Recently, the entire Concord Fire Department received dementia training from Jenn Quinn, owner of the Concord/Westford ComForCare Home Care office. Also teaching was Deborah Bier, PhD, ComForCare’s corporate director of special populations, creator of their DementiaWise® program, who is a long-time Concord resident.

“Interacting effectively with someone with dementia is very different than with other people,” said Quinn. “Our DementiaWise® program teaches the cutting-edge skills we brought to Concord fire fighters and EMTs.” In this training, first responders learned about the impact dementia has on the community, dementia communication best practices, tools to keep people with dementia calm, and how to quickly de-escalate aggression and violence in a person with dementia.

“Dementia is a major but still growing part of our emergency medical service here in Concord,” said Concord Fire Chief Mark Cotreau. “This training gave us a lot of excellent new information that will really help us into the future.”

“The Fire Department was very receptive to learning this information. It’s clear they really want to serve people with dementia well,” said Quinn “We are honored to have provided this education to them as part of our community involvement.”

DementiaWise is ComForCare’s comprehensive care program designed to enhance the lives of those living with dementia. Using research-based behavioral interventions, DementiaWise teaches ComForCare caregivers to understand and anticipate changes caused by dementia, and to use compassionate, practical strategies that help prevent and reduce difficult dementia behavior.

To learn more about the services of ComForCare Home Care, contact (978) 256-2468 and/or website www. comforcare.com/massachusetts/westford

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About ComForCare Home Care

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based ComForCare Home Care is a premier, franchised, home care provider. ComForCare has more than 185 franchise locations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Each office is individually owned and operated.

ComForCare caregivers provide home care and companionship services for individuals in many settings including their homes, independent and assisted living communities, nursing homes, hospitals or wherever clients reside. Services are provided primarily to seniors, but individuals with disabilities, or those recovering from an illness, injury or surgery, can also benefit.

Clients will receive quality services without regard to client’s race, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual preference, disability, handicap or HIV status. ComForCare Home Care is an equal opportunity employer.