The School of Nursing is launching a dementia care specialist training program believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.

U-M will roll out six classes for nurses and students from across the nation beginning this summer, with offerings available in intensive, on-campus formats as well as online. The idea is to make the classes accessible to a much larger group than the full-time nursing students enrolled at Michigan, says Donna Algase, a nursing professor heading the program.

About 4 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with dementia, a population expected to grow as baby boomers approach their 60s. But few health care providers get the information they need to treat patients suffering from symptoms including confusion, loss of bladder or bowel control, and erratic moods, Algase says.

The new classes are intended for two main audiences: nursing students pursuing advanced degrees and practicing nurses who would like to improve their knowledge of dementia treatment.

Students are encouraged to take as many classes as they need; there is no formal certificate or requirement to complete the sequence of classes.

Courses will include:

• An overview of dementia, including the types, the physiology, diagnoses and assessment strategies

• Treatment of and care for individuals with dementia

• Family caregiving

• Designing programs of care

• Developing training programs for direct care providers

• Conducting research with people with dementia and their families.

The School of Nursing will introduce two classes each year, from 2004 to 2006.

Algase, a professor of nursing and a faculty associate at the Institute of Gerontology, helped introduce a new concentration in care for the frail and elderly at the School of Nursing in 2001. The new classes are offered under the umbrella of the Center on Frail and Vulnerable Elders at the School of Nursing, which she directs.

U-M is collaborating with the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, which is helping to design the classes, as well as the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the Bortz Corporation and Trinity Health of Michigan.

The program received a $580,000 award from the Division of Nursing at Health Resources and Services Administration, with funds deriving from the recent passage of the Nurse Reinvestment Act—legislation designed to address the nursing shortage and ready the nursing work force for higher levels of elder care.

For further information, contact the Center on Frail and Vulnerable Elders at (734) 615-3714 or agingprograms@umich.edu.