OHCA Spring Summer 2017

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for memory care and outcomes for
evaluating competency would be great
and really needed.” He also said, better
defining curriculum and competencies
for Oregon’s training standards would be
a good starting point.
“Getting people connected to services is
challenging in that they don’t necessarily
know what they don’t know until they’re
ready and starting to recognize that
there are some significant challenges
to quality life, either for themselves or
the person that they care about,” said
Sarah Holland, program director for
Alzheimer’s Association Oregon Chapter
and a Purple Ribbon Commissioner.
One of the recommendations the Purple
Ribbon Commission gives to overcome
this challenge is to develop family and
consumer support programs, with a
specific recommendation to, “Promote
a one-stop information support center
that provides disease and caregiving
FEATURE
Spring/Summer 2017 The Oregon Caregiver 9
Commissioners Jay Leo, Linda Kirschbaum, and Sarah Holland discuss some of their recommendations for advancing quality dementia care in Oregon.
Ribbon Commissioner, has been active
in shaping policy around quality care.
“Where I came from, in Florida, the rules
were more restrictive than in Oregon as
far as who you could serve in assisted
living and Medicaid resources were more
limited than here. I was really interested
early on about how policy can help shape
what’s going on and the services that
people get and have access to,” he said.
Of the four major topic areas the
Commission focused on, Dr. Hernandez
said that he’s most interested in the
caregiver training and competency piece.
“I’m really interested in model policies
in other states that might work here,” he
said. “There is no magic number in terms
of minimum training hours that need
to be provided. Some people need more
than others and training alone isn’t really
inoculation. Just because someone gets
training, doesn’t necessarily mean they
are competent. Moving to an approach
that helps verify competency and
specifies standards around curriculum
information and connects people to
technology and community resources.”
Holland said that the Alzheimer’s
Association Oregon Chapter has
begun the ground work on this
recommendation and has been
working to increase visibility of their
resources and services, which haven’t
been as widely used in Oregon’s rural
communities. They have opened new
offices in Bend, Salem, and Eugene to
fill this gap but feel that more awareness
about the information and support
Alzheimer’s Association offers would
benefit consumers. “What we’ve really
been trying to do is provide resources so
that when people are ready to engage in
education, or go to a support group, or if
an individual with dementia is looking
for an opportunity to socialize and be
around other people who are living their
experience, then it’s available,” she said.
“The need is greater than the resources
that we have.” For example, she said that
four years ago they held 30 educational
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