2 Contact Hours Communication With Cognitively Impaired Residents/Patients

Course overview

Cognitive impairment is a problem associated with the brain that may affect thinking, speaking, understanding or remembering. These problems may be permanent, or they may come and go – depending on whether they are the result of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, brain injury or illness. In some cases, individuals suffer loss of cognitive function due to mental illness; others experience it as a side effect of some medications. As communication is essential to good care, CNAs must be able to overcome some of the common obstacles to communication that they encounter. This course will discuss strategies to make communication with cognitively impaired individuals more effective. LEARINING OBJECTIVES: 1. Define cognitive impairment and name some different types of cognitive impairment; 2. Distinguish between cognitive impairment and dementia; 3. List and describe strategies to improve poor communication with cognitively impaired individuals; and 4. Name other conditions that negatively affect communication with elderly individuals.