title: Credentialing dementia training: the Florida experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Florida is a leader in requiring that all direct care staff employed in assisted living, nursing homes, hospice, adult day care and home health undergo Alzheimer's disease (AD) training. Legislative requirements prescribe the curricula components and require a review of curricular content and minimum standards for the training providers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe Florida's AD training program review process, and report the results of our review of 445 curricula received over four and a half years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On initial submission, over 90% of curricula submitted did not include learning objectives, time formats or didactic approach. During a review of content we often found inaccurate information, language that was not person-centered, and missing required training components.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Form and content problems were prevalent across all curricular types. We propose the Florida credentialing program as a model to ensure that accurate and educationally sound curricula are used to train direct care workers.
authors.affiliation: School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612-3899, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hyer
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Molinari
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Sharmalee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000451:nursing*; D040561:Assisted Living Facilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003406:Credentialing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards; D005431:Florida; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education*; D005852:Geriatric Psychiatry / Q000193:education*; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D009728:Nursing Assistants / Q000193:education; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*