Under state rules, all licensed nursing homes in Massachusetts are required to complete dementia-specific training for their employees who care for residents, by the end of November 2014. The rules were implemented to close a loophole that allowed nursing homes to advertise dementia units without providing specialized training for their workers. Some of these rules include the specialized activities for the residents and the safety measures to prevent the residents from wandering. These rules are very important as half of the state’s nursing home residents have some form of dementia.
Many facilities in the state advertise “specially-trained” staff, dementia education programs, and special counseling, but have not applied to become a dementia-special care unit as required by law.
Nursing homes have been slow to implement the improvements, arguing that they do not have the funding to comply with the rules. Despite the delays, the state regulators are too busy to conduct spot checks for compliance. Instead, they are opting to check for compliance during the annual visit of each of the state’s 400 facilities. This will mean some nursing homes will not be checked for compliance for months. Many facilities in the state advertise “specially-trained” staff, dementia education programs, and special counseling, but have not applied to become a dementia-special care unit as required by law. If you have a loved one suffering from dementia and are considering placement in a nursing home, make sure that the facility is a state-approved dementia special-care unit.
