Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Biology of Aging

Looking at aging from a biomedical perspective, participants learn information and techniques for working with older adults they can apply in their professional practice. You will learn:

• Information and skills for working with older adults in their professional practice
• How time-dependent alterations in cellular and organ functioning lead to aging
• Factors affecting normal age-related changes, as well as functional, cognitive, psychological, and social declines
• Therapeutic interventions and applications in the workplace

Instructor: Roseann Kendall, RN, BSN, MAT is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Arts in Teaching. During her 40-year career, she has been an Emergency Department nurse, Intensive Care/Cardiac Care Unit Manager, Home Health Nurse and Clinical Supervisor, Director of Hospital Services, Director of Student Health and Counseling Services, Vice President for Student Affairs at WOU, and Nursing Instructor for Oregon Health Sciences University.

Format: 4 live-streamed, online sessions for a total of 6 hours

CEU eligibility: 6 hours of professional CEUs

Cost: $119

Certified Dementia Practitioner® Training

Learn the professional diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment for dementia, while gaining essential “best practices” communication and caregiving skills. Get a better understanding of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and how you can help improve the quality of life for dementia residents. You will learn how to:

• Define different dementias, reversible and irreversible, and better understand Alzheimer’s, Pick’s, Lewy Bodies, Vascular disease, Fronto Temporal dementia, Creutafeldt-Jokob disease, and Parkinson’s.
• Identify symptoms, behaviors, and how to communicate successfully with various stages of these diseases.
• Express the differences between depression, delirium, delusions, and hallucinations and how these conditions are often exhibited.
• Relay why hoarding and repetitive behaviors occur and how to best redirect them.
• Recognize and practice how communication, environment, and activities can effectively employ best practices to improve the quality of life for dementia residents.

The Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care course fulfills the required training portion of the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP) Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP®).

Instructor: Connie Ratti, CTRS, CADDCT, CDP®, ACC, AC-BC is a Certified Dementia Practitioner® Trainer and Certified Therapeutic Recreational Specialist. She has worked as a frontline staff member of the Interdisciplinary Medical Team for over 20 years as an Activity Professional, Consultant, and Manager for Dementia and Alzheimer’s residents. Her work includes planning and implementing programming and activities for individuals that were appropriate to their disease levels and skill abilities to redirect behaviors and provide quality-of-life experiences. Connie views her position as one that changes work into worth, providing a quality of life that means something to her residents, simultaneously providing a great deal of quality to her own life.

Format: 1 day, 8 hours of in-class instruction

CEU eligibility: This course fulfills the Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP®) training portion required by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP).

Cost: $209 total ($179 course fee + $30 for book and certificate processing)

Polypharmacy and the Geriatric Population

Understand the critical elements of polypharmacy as it relates to older adults. 1 out of every 6 adults over the age of 65 will suffer at least one harmful reaction to prescription medication. Don’t let your patients become one. You will learn to:

• Understand how multiple prescriptions can interact and affect the aging adult
• Analyze medication lists for potentially inappropriate prescriptions including opioids, benzodiazepines, antimicrobials, antipsychotics, anticholinergics
• Avoid misdiagnosis of symptoms that results in prescribing cascade and contributes to polypharmacy
• Decrease the risk of antimicrobial resistance in patients by using best practices
• Identify when complementary or alternative therapies may be beneficial

Instructors:  Courtney Kraus has a Pharmacy degree and is the Coordinator for Experiential Advancement/Assistant Professor at Pacific University. Danielle Backus, Assistant Professor at Pacific University, graduated from Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, then completed programs in PGY-1 through and PGY-2 in Geriatrics and Academia.

Format: This is an 8-hour course, offered on 2 days over 2 weeks.

CEU eligibility: Approved by the Oregon Board of Pharmacy for 8 contact hours towards CEU credit.

Cost: $159