Dementia Hospice Care Program

Make the Most of Today

Though dementia may dim memories and make communication frustrating, the disease can never steal your loved one’s identity. At Care Dimensions, we focus on individuals – respecting their place in the world and honoring life before and after dementia took its toll.

Our dementia support program tailors personalized care plans for hospice patients, whether they are experiencing moderate dementia or severe symptoms, to maximize each patient’s comfort and quality of life. We meet the needs of the whole person – physical, cognitive, spiritual and emotional – while supporting, relieving and preparing caregivers. Tomorrow is uncertain for patients with dementia and Alzheimer ’s disease – we help you make the most of today.

Patient and Family Resources

Feeling unsure about how to care for your loved one with dementia? Download our handbook Making the Most of Today: A Guide to Caring for Your Loved One with Dementia.

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Multidimensional Care

Our dementia support program offers a much-needed layer of assistance to patients, reducing hospitalizations and emergency room visits and instilling calm and confidence in caregivers. Our dementia support program offers:

• Pain and symptom management, providing relief even when patients cannot articulate pain
• 24/7 medical, emotional and spiritual support
• Experienced hospice aides specially trained to work with cognitively-impaired patients
• Kaplan Family Hospice House or the Care Dimensions Hospice House for respite care or acute symptom management to avoid hospitalizations
• Medication and equipment management
• Help transitioning from home to residential care
• Emotional and spiritual support
• Trained volunteers to provide support and companionship
• Caregiver education
• Complementary therapies
• Grief support

An Extra Layer of Support

Our Dementia Support program is designed to provide additional support to family or professional caregivers. To facilitate communication and ease the transition of care, the social worker on your hospice team will complete a comprehensive assessment with the family to inform the clinical team and volunteer about how best to work with the patient. Questions include:

• What are the most effective communication techniques?
• What does he/she find calming and relaxing?
• What does he/she find upsetting?
• Does he/she have favorite books or music?
• Are there special subjects he/she likes to discuss?

Another critical component of the dementia program is our cadre of volunteers, who receive specialized training on communicating and engaging with patients with dementia. Additionally, they complete a Dementia Live hands-on experience to help them understand and become sensitive to the physical and mental challenges that a patient with dementia experiences. In addition to a bag of supplies they carry to help them engage with patients in non-verbal ways, our volunteers can also provide fidget quilts that provide sensory or tactile stimulation to patients who need to keep their hands busy.

Our Dementia Team

Care Dimensions helps patients and caregivers communicate needs, navigate the healthcare system and plan for the future. All Care Dimensions clinical staff receive a 13-hour habilitation training program developed by the Alzheimer’s Association of MA/NH that includes topics such as communication skills, understanding how the physical environment can make a difference, how to use activity and purposeful engagement with patients, how behavior can be a way to communicate, and understanding and working with families.

Our interdisciplinary team brings together the skills and experience of:

• Board certified physician specializing in hospice and palliative care coordinates care with primary physician and specialists
• Specially trained nurse manages symptoms and pain
• Hospice aide assists with daily care and housekeeping
• Social worker helps patients and families cope with emotional and practical issues
• Spiritual counselor offers non-denominational spiritual support
• Complementary therapist relieves stress through music, art, massage and more
• Trained volunteer provides companionship and interaction
• Bereavement counselor helps families prepare for death and cope with grief

Where You Need Us to Be

Care Dimensions cares for patients wherever they are:

• At home
• In assisted living and skilled-nursing facilities
• In hospitals
• At our inpatient hospice houses—​the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers and the Care Dimensions Hospice House in Lincoln