New
Mitigating Distress in People Living with Dementia and Their Caregivers
Course 1 of 8
Gain an overview of the experience of living with dementia and learn how to relieve distress for people living with dementia, and their caregivers.
Supporting the Caregivers of People Living with Dementia
What You’ll Learn
Learn how to support caregivers of people living with dementia, including assessment of caregiver burden and connecting caregivers to essential support systems.
Learning outcomes for this course include:
- Describe the population of caregivers of people living with dementia, their many responsibilities, and the impact of caregiving on caregivers.
- Identify appropriate tools to assess caregiver well-being.
- Identify caregiving common support systems, such as respite care, support groups, caregiver education, and safe return programs.
What You’ll Earn
After completing the course, you’ll earn a Verification of Attendance certificate.
Only CAPC members who are logged in can earn the following free Continuing Education Credits:
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Case Management: 1.00 CE
- Nursing: 1.25 CNE
- Social Work: 1.00 CE (NYSED)
Social work credits are approved by the New York State Education Department. Social workers licensed outside of New York should contact their regulatory board to determine course approval for continuing education credits.
This course is open-to-all at no cost.
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Tools & Resources
Course 5 Key Takeaways: Supporting the Caregivers of People Living with Dementia
MEMBERS ONLY
Key Takeaways for Course 5 of the Best Practices in Dementia Care and Caregiver Support Unit.
Dementia Care Resources for Caregivers
Print or email this handout of caregiver resources for education and support.
CaringKind: Finding Comfort Flyer for Caregivers
CaringKind's flyer informing of their new guide: Finding Comfort: LIving with Advanced Dementia in Residential Care
Referral to Community Resources
Community-based resource locators and support services.
Caring for the Caregiver
Validated tools for assessing caregiver health and well-being.
Dementia Care Resources in Our Community
Fill out this worksheet with contact information for community-based services in your area, and supply to clinical staff or patients and families.
Best Practice Caregiving: Online Resource of Evidence-Based Dementia Caregiving Programs
Online Resource of Evidence-Based Dementia Caregiving Programs. Partnership between the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging and the Family Caregiver Alliance. Presentation to the Dementia Care Alliance, June 2, 2021.
Course References: Supporting the Caregivers of People Living with Dementia
Course citations. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2026.
Dementia Care Best Practices
Training clinicians to support people with dementia and their caregivers, and guidance for quality improvement initiatives.
Best Practice Caregiving
Single source of detailed information to learn about and compare more than 40 evidence-based programs to support caregivers of people with dementia. For use by healthcare and community service organizations, providers, funders and policy makers.
Family Caregiver Alliance
Resource locator, education, and support for caregivers, including disease-specific information.
Home Health Compare
Medicare locator of home health agencies.
Cognitive Impairment Care Planning
Guidance from the Alzheimer's Association on utilizing CPT code 99483.
Alzheimer's Association Downloadable Resources for Patients and Caregivers
PDF resources can be printed or emailed. Some resources also available in Spanish.
CaringKind's Caregiver Storyteller Podcast
A storytelling podcast about Alzheimer's and dementia caregiving.
A Guide to Alzheimer’s Caregiving
Shared by Caring.com
Guide to Caregiving for a Loved One With Dementia
Shared by Caring.com
The Impact of Music and Memory on Resident Level Outcomes in California Nursing Homes
A journal article about a study of the effects of a nonpharmacologic intervention, Music and Memory (M&M), on residents with dementia and/or behavioral problems living in nursing homes.
Special Report: Mapping a Better Future for Dementia Care Navigation
From the Alzheimer's Association.
Accreditations and Disclosures
Physicians
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) and the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). MSSNY is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Medical Society of the State of New York designates each session of this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ displayed per session. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.0 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
As an ACCME-accredited provider, MSSNY is required to identify and mitigate relevant financial relationships of all individuals in control of CME content.
Financial relationships are relevant if the following three conditions are met for the prospective person who will control content of the education:
✓ A financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company.
✓ The financial relationship existed during the past 24 months.
✓ The content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship.
Kevin Plancher, MD, member of MSSNY’s Subcommittee on Educational Programs, has disclosed that he has served as a consultant for Averitas and Pacira and has served as a speaker for Bioventus.
Harini Sarva, MD, member of MSSNY’s Subcommittee on Educational Programs, has disclosed that she has served as a researcher for Sun Pharma.
None of the other individuals in control of content have relevant financial relationships to disclose.
All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.
Minutes: 60 or 1.0 contact hours
Reviewed: 2/10/2026 | Released: 2/10/2026 | Expires: 11/19/2028
Physician Assistants
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME. Medical Society of the State of New York designates this enduring material with 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ as specified, which can be applied to the continuing education of Physician Assistants. Physician Assistants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Nurses
This activity has been submitted to the Connecticut Nurses' Association for approval to award contact hours. The Connecticut Nurses' Association is accredited as an approver of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Minutes: 75 or 1.25 contact hours
Released: 2/10/2026 | Expires: 2/10/2028
Social Workers
Center to Advance Palliative Care SW CPE #0257 is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers effective 2/10/2026 - 7/31/2027. This program has been approved for 1.0 continuing education contact hours.
Certified Case Managers
This program is approved by The Commission for Case Manager Certification (Approval # 250004213) to provide 1.0 continuing education credits to CCM® board certified case managers.
Released: 2/10/2026 | Expires: 2/10/2027
Verification of Attendance (VOA)
All users that are not eligible for continuing education will receive a Verification of Attendance certificate upon completion of the course.
How to Achieve Contact Hours: To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the entire course, receive a minimum score of 80% on the post-test (within 3 attempts), and complete the course evaluation. A printable certificate of completion or a continuing award document specific to the discipline will be awarded. If the participant does not successfully score an 80% or better within 3 attempts they must re-take the course from beginning to end.
Course Media Instructions and Additional Information
Software Requirements: CAPC’s online curriculum, tools and technical assistance are designed to be fully compatible through multiple platforms: computer, smartphone (iOS or Android) or tablet running the following web browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
Content: Each course is comprised of interactive learning components (articles, tools, or supporting materials), video and audio. The learner will be expected to complete various interactive processes such as matching, simulated clinical decision-making, fill in the blanks, and highlighting content.
Target Audience: Each program is developed for chaplains/spiritual counselors, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, case managers, palliative care program leaders, and healthcare leaders (hospital, health system and community care).
Activity Description/Statement of Needs: CAPC’s online curriculum provides training in two critical areas. Technical assistance courses are designed to help palliative care program leaders address key challenges such as implementing palliative care in community health care settings. Clinical coursework provides fundamental training in pain and symptom management, communication, and other key skills needed to work with patients with serious illness.
Faculty Disclosures and Financial Relationships: It is the policy of CAPC to ensure objectivity, balance, independence, transparency, and scientific rigor in all CE, CNE and CME educational activities per the highest standards of ANCC and ACGME guidelines. For all courses, Faculty/Presenters/Authors/Content Reviewers/Planning Committee Members complete forms to disclose their relevant financial relationships. No relevant financial relationships were identified for any individuals with the ability to control content of the activity.
Disclaimers: The opinions expressed in the courses are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsor, the educational partner, or the supporter. Please review complete prescribing information of specific drugs or combination of drugs, including indications, contraindications, warnings, and adverse effects before administering pharmacologic therapy to patients. Activities do not contain information on commercial products/devices that are unlabeled for use or investigational uses of products not yet approved.
Copyright Information: All rights reserved by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). No materials may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews.
Course Faculty
Dave Carper, MDIV, BCC.
Consultant to CAPC
Counseling Resource Officer, Bluegrass Care Navigators
Constance Dahlin, MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN.
Consultant to CAPC
Nurse Planner, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Maribeth Gallagher, DNP, PMHNP-BC, FAAN.
Dementia Program Director, Hospice of the Valley
Eric Widera, MD.
Professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco
Director of Hospice and Palliative Care, San Francisco VA Medical Center
Rima Itani Al-Nimr, MS, RD, LD.
Director, Clinical Education, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Brittany Chambers, MPH, MCHES.
Director, Health Equity and Special Initiatives
Kesha Wall Graham, LISW-CP, ACM-SW.
Palliative Care Clinical Social Worker, Medical University of South Carolina
Peer Reviewers
Sherika Newman, DO.
CAPC Peer Reviewer
Founder, Doctor in the Family, Atlanta, GA
Constance Dahlin MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN.
Consultant to CAPC
Nurse Planner, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Contact information: For answers to frequently asked questions about CAPC courses and CEs, read the Online Course FAQ. For all other questions, please contact support.
New
Talking About a Dementia Diagnosis with Your Patient
Course 2 of 8
Learn how to discuss a diagnosis of dementia with patients and caregivers in a way that is sensitive, clear, and supportive, from diagnosis across the dementia trajectory.
New
Preparing Patients and Caregivers for Dementia Progression
Course 3 of 8
Learn techniques for supportive communication with people living with dementia, and their caregivers, to help them prepare for the challenges they may face as dementia progresses.