Seasons Hospice Commits to Improving Care for Alzheimer's Patients

ST. LOUIS, June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The full-time care team of Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Missouri recently earned certification in the Alzheimer's Association essentiALZ program to improve the care of dementia patients in the St. Louis area.

According to the Alzheimer's Association approximately five million people age 65 and older have Alzheimer's disease, making it the sixth leading cause of death. By 2025, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease is estimated to increase 40 percent to 7.1 million.  

"Having this certification empowers our full-time care team to manage the unique care needs of those diagnosed with dementia," said Dawn Mullins, RN, MHA, CHA, executive director of Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care. "As the number of people impacted by dementia continues to increase, we felt we could better serve our community by taking part in this specialized education and passing the Alzheimer's Association certification exams." 

The program contains 10 modules of HealthCare Interactive CARES® online dementia care training, including making a connection, assisting with eating, improving pain management, reducing falls and eliminating restraints. Training concludes with passing the Alzheimer's Association certification exams.  

The 17 who earned certification are:

•  Angela Davis, hospice aide; Gina Foster, LPN; Jian Gao, hospice volunteer; Allison Givens, MSW, LCSW; Jen Glenn, hospice volunteer; Jacob Gullett, hospice aide; Patrice Handy, hospice aide; Jonathan Humphreys, music therapy intern; Linnea Larson, board-certified music therapist; Laurie Mueller, RN, BSN; Dawn Mullins, RN, BSN; Hongfu Pan, hospice volunteer; Eliza Pautz, board-certified music therapist; Christina Pettus, RN; Rhonda Simril, hospice aide. Jeff Stender, hospice chaplain; and Kristina Waller, RN, BSN.

"This certification, combined with our continued commitment to our A Touch for All Seasons program, really shows our team is committed to making a difference to our patients and their families," said Mullins.

Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Missouri is located at 3660 S. Geyer Road, Suite 120, St. Louis. For more information, call (888) 461-7733. 

Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care

Founded in 1997, Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care is the fifth largest hospice provider in the nation. Seasons provides high-quality clinical and compassionate care to patients and families in 15 states through our 20 Medicare-certified home care clinical operations and 10 Hospice Inpatient Centers. In 2012, Seasons caregivers served more than 16,000 patients of all ages, totaling more than one million patient days. Its website is www.seasons.org

SOURCE Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care