CARES Certification Programs   

The CARES^® Activities of Daily^™ Living 10-Hour Online Training Program focuses on the activities of daily living (ADLs) across all levels of thinking decline, progressing from normal thinking to the first signs of dementia to the late and end stages of the disease process. In each level of decline, specific strategies are presented for a variety of ADLs including bathing, dressing, eating, grooming, mouth care, and using the bathroom. Since a lot of the direct care, you provide is related to ADLs, these thoughtful and effective strategies can be used immediately with anyone for whom you provide care.

This program has 10 modules (10 hours). The modules include:

1. Dementia and the CARES^® Approach
2. Creating Meaning in Activities of Daily Living
3. Recognizing and Managing Pain
4. Bathing
5. Dressing
6. Eating
7. Grooming
8. Mouth Care
9. Using the Bathroom
10. Mobility, Transferring, and Positioning

About CARES^® Dementia Certification^™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge.  CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES Activities of Daily-Living 10-Hour. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES^® Approach.

This is an online program and students will need a web browser with an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

The CARES® Activities of Daily™ Living 4-Hour Online Training Program focuses on understanding each stage of dementia and how to respond to the changes that each stage presents while assisting someone living with dementia with activities of daily living (ADL). This program features dressing, eating, using the bathroom, and mobility, transferring, and positioning. The award-winning CARES® Approach is also featured.

This program does not attempt to teach better skills in performing these activities of daily living. Instead, it focuses directly on how care must change when caring for someone living with dementia. Very small changes in how care ADL care is provided make the total difference in having a pleasant, successful experience vs. possibly getting yelled at, sworn at, bitten, or even punched.

This program has 5 modules (4 hours). The modules include:

1. Introduction to Activities of Daily Living
2. Dressing
3. Eating
4. Using the Bathroom
5. Mobility, Transferring, and Positioning

About CARES® Dementia Certification™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge.  The CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES Dementia-Related Behavior. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES® Approach.

This is an online program and students will need a web browser with an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

The CARES^®  Dementia 5-Step Method™ Online Training Program provides caregivers with the core or “basic” information needed for dementia care. It focuses on person-centered care, the changes that happen to thinking skills as dementia progresses, how those changes impact behavior, and how to understand behavior as communication. It also includes an entire module on the CARES® Approach, a person-centered, easy-to-remember approach to care for any person in any situation and at any level of dementia thinking decline.

The letters in CARES stand for: Connect with the Person, Assess Behavior, Respond Appropriately, Evaluate What Works, and Share with Others. Explore these and other topics through video, audio, and interactive exercises featuring real families, real caregivers, and real dementia-care experts (no actors).

This program has 4 modules (4 hours) including:

1. Meet Clara Jones
2. Introduction to Dementia
3. Understanding Behavior as Communication
4. The CARES® Approach

CARES^®  Dementia Certification™

CARES^® Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge.  CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES Dementia 5-Step Method. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES® Approach.

This is an online program is online and students will need a web browser and an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

The CARES^® Dementia-Related Behavior^™ Online Training Program focuses on the behavior of people with dementia that is hard to understand and difficult to respond to. Sometimes referred to as "challenging behavior" or "inappropriate behavior," we use the term "dementia-related behavior" as a person-centered, respectful term that does not put blame on the person with dementia.

You’ll learn thoughtful and effective ways to care for people with dementia when they are confused, frustrated, scared, or angry. You'll learn what to do when a person with dementia yells, curses, hits, kicks, or bites. And, you'll learn when and how to respond to sexual behavior. Knowing these new ways of caring can make the behavior less severe. This can make caregiving less stressful for you and make life better for the person with dementia.

This program has 4 modules (4 hours). The modules include:

1. Introduction to Dementia-Related Behavior
2. Using the CARES^® Approach with Dementia-Related Behavior
3. Breaking down the CARES^® Approach for Dementia-Related Behavior
4. Key Responses to Dementia-Related Behavior

There is also a "Values" section that helps users understand how values and beliefs can impact care.

About CARES^® Dementia Certification^™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge.  CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES Dementia-Related Behavior. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES^® Approach.

This is an online program and students will need a web browser with an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

CARES® Dementia SafetyTopics™ focuses on strategies for communicating with someone with dementia, help with wandering, food and fluid intake, preventing falls, eliminating restraints, and the overarching critical topic of pain. It is very difficult to deliver daily care, have good communication, or respond to behavior if someone is in pain. Each of the modules incorporates advanced training in the CARES® Approach in addition to a wide variety of exercises and video activities of real people with dementia, CNAs, and staff members.

This program has 6 modules (6 hours) including:

1. Making a Connection with the Person
2. Eating Well
3. Recognizing Pain
4. Minimizing Falls
5. Rethinking Wandering
6. Minimizing and Eliminating Restraints

About CARES® Dementia Certification™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge. CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES Dementia Safety Topics. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES® Approach.

This is an online program and students will need a computer and access to the internet.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

The CARES^® Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention^™ Online Training Program focuses on how to recognize signs of elder abuse, and the differences between neglect and self-neglect. It also describes many positive things you can do to help prevent elder abuse.

If you ask someone about elder abuse, they will immediately think of examples of physical abuse such as bruises, a black eye, or even broken bones. This program explores many other areas of elder abuse, however, including emotional abuse, financial abuse and exploitation, caregiver neglect and self-neglect, and sexual abuse. It goes on to teach you strategies to recognize when these types of may be occurring, and what you and or are required to do. The program also teaches how to prevent frustrating care interactions with the person you are caring for, a common precursor to elder abuse.

This program has 4 modules (3 hours). The modules include:

1. What is Elder Abuse
2. Dementia and Elder Abuse
3. The CARES^® Approach and Elder Abuse Prevention
4. Community Resources

About CARES^® Dementia Certification^™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge. CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES^® Approach.

This is an online program and students will need a web browser with an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

The CARES^® End-of-Life Dementia Care^™ Online Training Program helps the care team—including the family—understand what is happening to a person with dementia at the end of life. The CARES^® Approach equips caregivers with tools and strategies to approach end-of-life care with confidence. The training covers topics such as how to provide comfort care and support to the person with dementia, as well as to family members and other individuals close to him or her. Explore these and other topics through video, audio, and interactive exercises featuring real families, real caregivers, and real dementia-care experts (no actors).

This program has 5 modules (5 hours). The modules include:

1. Introduction to End-of-Life Dementia Care
2. The CARES^® Approach
3. Decision-Making at the End of Life
4. Comfort Care
5. Emotional and Spiritual Support

About CARES^® Dementia Certification^™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge.  CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of CARES End-of-Life Dementia Care. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES^® Approach.

This is an online program and students will need a web browser with an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.

The CARES^® Serious Mental Illness^™ Online Training Program focuses on how you can develop care strategies for those with serious mental illness and how it differs from dementia.

For many years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have led a national effort to reduce the use of antipsychotic medications, especially for people living with dementia. However, there are appropriate uses of antipsychotics. They are designed to help people with serious mental illnesses such as major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder. This program does a deep dive into each of these illnesses and provides helpful strategies for caring for people living with a serious mental illness who may be in your care.

This program has 4 modules (4 hours). The modules include:

1. Introduction to Serious Mental Illness
2. Understanding Serious Mental Illness
3. Living with Serious Mental Illness
4. The CARES^® Approach and Providing Appropriate Care

About CARES^® Dementia Certification^™

CARES Dementia Certification recognizes and tests a user’s dementia understanding and dementia care knowledge.  CARES Dementia Certification is optional and is included at no additional cost with the purchase of the CARES Serious Mental Illness Online Training Program. Successful completion of the exam recognizes users for being educated about dementia and for being trained and certified in person-centered dementia care practices using the CARES^® Approach. 

This is an online program and students will need a web browser with an internet connection.

WSCC Program Requirements:

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.
• Possess a high school diploma or GED.