DPEN Projects
At Yale School of Nursing, DPEN will educate and prepare interprofessional health care providers and graduate nursing students to be valued, supported, engaged, and capable members of the care team for people living with dementia.
Dementia Scholars Program
DPEN has developed 23 modules—in collaboration with dementia care experts—to empower future and current nurses to provide inclusive, equitable, person-centered care to people living with dementia. See our full list of modules, and contact us to use the curriculum at your organization.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Long-Term Care
DPEN West Coast worked with the Cross Cultural Health Care Program (CCHCP)—with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA Grant Number U1QHP28742)—to develop curriculum for the care of nursing home residents in the context of the Age-Friendly Health Systems 4M’s Framework. We are preparing and empowering nurses and certified nursing assistants to interrupt systemic racism, oppression, bias, and discrimination in long-term care (LTC) systems. We hope this will help build a strong, long-lasting supply of staff in LTC and improve LTC residents’ quality of life, care, and the job satisfaction for all LTC staff. The free, two-part training series is now available online: “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in Long-Term Care” course and “Understanding and Interrupting Barriers to Equitable and Inclusive Long-Term Care” course.
Long-Term Care Nursing
DPEN West Cost—with funding from the Washington State legislature and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services—developed a series of specialized long-term care modules for undergraduate nursing students. If you are interested in using these at your institution, you can view our inforgraphic and email melinda.schultz@yale.edu to learn more.
Partnering with Your Healthcare Provider
DPEN West Coast worked closely with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services’ Dementia Action Collaborative to develop a resource for care partners of people living with dementia. Partnering with Your Healthcare Provider helps care partners to:
1. Understand how to form a working partnership with healthcare providers,
2. Organize, streamline tasks, and communicate about the care needs of the person living with dementia, and
3. Reduce chances of avoidable care transitions.
You can download our flyer to share with your network and view the resource online.
Interprofessional Dementia Care Training - Future Work
- Identify and evaluate cognitive, behavioral, emotional, spiritual, and physical challenges
- Evaluate health-related social needs
- Evaluate whether their health system can treat dementia well