LOCAL COMFORCARE OWNER, JENN QUINN, EDUCATES FIRST RESPONDERS ON HOW TO HANDLE DEMENTIA AND ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS

From the person with dementia who gets lost, to a call that someone with dementia has assaulted his caregiver, or to a 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 Littleton Police Department received dementia training from Jenn Quinn, owner of the ComForCare Home Care office. The program covered the best practices and tools to communicate, driving, wandering, misuse of 911 calls, hoarding and assessing pain.

“The Police Department was very receptive to learning this information, it’s clear they want to learn and serve the people,” said Quinn, “It was an honor to have provided this education to them as part of our community involvement.”

“This training was very informative,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Patterson. “The number of calls has been increasing and we need to train our officers to use best practices.

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.

“This was very informative both for work and family issues,” said Sgt. Ed Bussiere. “This training should be mandatory at the recruit training level.”

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About ComForCare Health Care Holdings, Inc.

Founded in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., ComForCare Health Care Holdings, Inc. has more than 172 franchise owners operating 200 territories in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.