SWK (0404) 759 - Social Work Practice with People Living with Dementia

Credits: 3.00

This course prepare students for effective practice with diverse individuals living with neurocognitive disorder, or dementia, and their families from across practice settings. Students will apply and integrate the competencies necessary for effective clinical social work practice with this population.

Prerequisite 1: SWK 521
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
•   Coordinate comprehensive diagnostic assessments for dementia and provide bio-psycho- social-environmental assessment of patient and family needs throughout the progression of the dementia syndrome, including progressive intellectual, psychiatric, social, and behavioral symptoms of distinct diseases of dementia.
•   Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping the experiences of people living with dementia, their family members, themselves, and other providers.
•   Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills, as well as dementia-specific communication techniques, to effectively engage and promote the personhood of diverse clients confronting dementia
•   Work with people with dementia, their family members, and formal care providers to develop mutually agreeable intervention goals based on the critical assessment of strengths, needs, and challenges
•   Use inter-professional collaboration to identify and enact strategies of behavior management and risk reduction in dementia care.
•   Apply critical thinking to analyze and translate research findings pertaining to clinical interventions that are acceptable and effective for clients in varying stages of dementia and socio-cultural contexts.
•   Select and use appropriate dementia-care related social work roles and practice functions in interdisciplinary practice settings.
•   Facilitate effective transitions and endings that meet the goals of clients facing dementia as they engage services throughout the continuum of care.
•   Make ethical decisions regarding care, treatment, and service delivery by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, and additional codes of ethics as informed by patient advocates and inter-professional care contexts.