http://www.abilities.today/learn

Let's Talk Senior Care, 353 S. Lewis Lane, Carbondale, IL (2026)

02/16/2026

Honoring Lincoln on Presidents’ Day

Today we recognize Abraham Lincoln — a leader remembered for integrity, perseverance, and a deep commitment to human dignity.

Lincoln led the nation through one of its most divided times, reminding us that leadership requires courage, compassion, and a willingness to stand firmly for what is right — even when it’s difficult.

Presidents’ Day is more than a long weekend. It’s a chance to reflect on the values that shape our communities: unity, service, and respect for others.

In our work — especially in senior care — we see firsthand how history lives on through the stories of older adults who have witnessed decades of change. Days like today are an opportunity to invite those stories, reflect on progress, and recommit to serving others with integrity.

02/15/2026

📘 Take a Look Inside Our Syllabus!

Curious what you’ll actually learn in our CE course, Behavior Assessment for Dementia Symptoms? Our syllabus lays it all out — from course objectives to a detailed outline of each module.

This course is designed specifically for BCBAs and behavior professionals who want to confidently apply assessment skills in dementia care settings. Inside, you’ll see how we cover:

🧠 Conducting functional behavior assessments (FBAs) with older adults
📊 Operationally defining and measuring dementia-related behaviors
🧩 Using assessment and preference tools tailored to aging populations
🤝 Collaborating effectively with medical and interdisciplinary teams
📋 Translating assessment findings into practical, ethical recommendations

You’ll also find information about the intended audience, course structure, logistics, and continuing education details — so you know exactly what to expect.

This is a self-paced, online course with 30-day access, created and taught by BCBAs with hands-on experience in dementia and senior care.

💻 Learn more or enroll: www.abilities.today/learn

02/14/2026

🤝 Interdisciplinary team training isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s essential for high-quality care for older adults.

Older adults often have complex medical and social needs that no single clinician can manage alone. That’s why experts across geriatrics are calling for interdisciplinary team training — where health professionals from different fields learn to collaborate effectively to support older patients.

📍 Key takeaways:
✨ Quality geriatric care requires teamwork among professionals who can coordinate medical, social, and therapeutic interventions.
✨ A coalition of 30+ organizations (supported by the American Geriatrics Society) urges integration of interdisciplinary team training into health professional education and continuing training.
✨ Expanding this kind of training faces challenges — but with sustained advocacy from professional associations, educators, and accrediting bodies, it’s a pathway to better care for older adults.

Let’s continue championing collaborative education and practice so every older adult gets the thoughtful, coordinated care they deserve! ❤️

👉https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jgs.12822

02/14/2026

❤️ Valentine’s Day in Dementia Care ❤️

Love doesn’t disappear with a diagnosis.

In senior care, Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romance — it’s about connection. It’s about the husband who still holds his wife’s hand even when she no longer remembers his name. The caregiver who learns someone’s favorite 1950s love song. The staff member who takes five extra minutes to sit and listen to a story told for the tenth time.

For individuals living with dementia, expressions of love may look different:
💌 A familiar song
🌹 The smell of a favorite perfume
📸 A wedding photo
🤝 Gentle hand-holding
🍫 Sharing a favorite sweet

Meaningful engagement is rooted in history. Past relationships, roles, and memories often hold the strongest emotional value. Valentine’s Day can be a powerful opportunity to reconnect someone with their identity as a partner, a parent, a friend.

As clinicians and caregivers, we don’t just increase behaviors — we build environments where connection can happen.

Today, let’s celebrate love in all its forms:
Romantic love.
Family love.
Friendship.
Compassionate care.

Because at every age — and every stage — connection matters.

02/13/2026

🌟 Insights on preference assessment in neurocognitive disorders!

Engagement in meaningful activities is essential for quality of life, especially for individuals living with neurocognitive disorders (NCD), like dementia. A recent study compared four ways to identify preferred activities to help improve engagement and well-being.

📌 What they found:
✔️ Single-stimulus preference assessments (asking “yes/no” with or without pictures) were the most consistent and best at predicting what activities people actually engaged in.
✔️ Caregiver rankings and multiple-stimulus tasks were less reliable—especially for moderately or low-preferred activities.
✔️ Preferences for many activities remained stable over time for most participants, although engagement levels fluctuated.

💡 Why this matters:
Using quick and simple preference assessments can help caregivers and clinicians better tailor meaningful activities, increasing engagement and possibly improving quality of life for adults with NCD.

Let’s keep pushing for person-centered supports that honor choice and promote connection. ❤️

02/12/2026

🧠 Quality Dementia Care Starts with a Supported Workforce

A practice principles article from the Alzheimer’s Association highlights a truth we see every day in senior care: the quality of dementia care is driven by the people who provide it.

Here’s what the experts recommend to build a dementia-capable workforce across long-term care:

🔹 Adequate Staffing – Enough staff at all times to meet the needs of people with dementia.
🔹 Training – Comprehensive dementia education so providers understand how dementia affects behavior, communication, and care.
🔹 Fair Compensation – Valuing staff through competitive pay and benefits helps with recruitment and retention.
🔹 Supportive Work Environments – When caregivers feel supported and respected, turnover goes down—and quality goes up.
🔹 Career Growth – Opportunities to advance help staff stay invested and grow their expertise.
🔹 Partnership with Families – Collaborating with family caregivers enriches care and understanding for each individual.

These workforce principles support person-centered, compassionate dementia care in nursing homes, assisted living, home care, and hospice. Investing in people isn’t just good practice—it’s essential to quality outcomes.

02/12/2026

Lack of activity engagement is one of the MOST common referrals we see in senior care.

Before we can increase engagement, we have to identify what’s actually reinforcing.

That’s why we developed a Preference Assessment designed specifically for older adults — including individuals with dementia.

When working in aging services, it’s not enough to ask, “What do you like to do?”
We also ask:
• What did you enjoy 5 years ago?
• 20 years ago?
• 40 years ago?

A person living with dementia may be anchored in earlier memories. Some of their strongest preferences today may be rooted in past roles, hobbies, careers, and routines. Good assessment honors both the person they are now and the life they’ve lived.

We created this printable to help:
✔️ BCBAs
✔️ Activity directors
✔️ Caregivers
✔️ Senior living teams

🎨 3 color versions available
🧩 Digital download
✨ Grab one—or all three for under $4

Available in our Etsy shop: ANDA Printables
🛒 https://www.etsy.com/shop/ANDAprintables

02/11/2026

Project ECHO is one of my favorite ways to access high-quality, interdisciplinary learning—without the cost or travel.

If you’re supporting older adults, individuals with ID/DD, or people living with dementia, ECHO sessions are an incredible resource.

Here’s how it works:
🔹 A short, expert-led didactic on a focused topic
🔹 A real-world case presentation
🔹 Collaborative discussion and problem-solving with providers from across disciplines

It’s not just a webinar—it’s a learning community. You get to hear how physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and behavior analysts think through complex cases. That cross-disciplinary perspective is invaluable in senior care and dementia services.

Many ECHOs are free and hosted by universities and national organizations throughout the year. Topics often include dementia in ID/DD, behavioral health in aging, complex medical comorbidities, caregiver support, and systems-level problem-solving.

If you’re looking to expand your competence in aging and dementia care, this is such an accessible place to start.

Search “Project ECHO dementia IDD” to find current series and archived sessions.

02/11/2026

❤️🫀 American Heart Month & Senior Care 🧠

February is American Heart Month — and heart health is deeply connected to brain health.

For older adults, especially those living with or at risk for dementia, cardiovascular health matters more than many people realize. Conditions like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and stroke significantly increase the risk of cognitive decline and vascular dementia. What’s good for the heart is often good for the brain.

In senior care and dementia services, this means:
❤️ Supporting medication adherence
❤️ Encouraging safe, meaningful movement
❤️ Promoting heart-healthy routines and nutrition
❤️ Monitoring changes in endurance, fatigue, or functioning
❤️ Collaborating with interdisciplinary teams

As behavior analysts and senior care professionals, we can play an important role in building sustainable habits that protect both heart and brain health. Small, consistent behavior changes across the lifespan can have long-term impact.

Heart health isn’t just a medical issue — it’s a quality-of-life issue.

02/10/2026

🖤📚 Black History Month Spotlight: Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller 🧠✨

We honor a pioneering figure in dementia research whose name and achievements have too often been overlooked by the annals of history: Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller.

Fuller overcame overwhelming odds in an environment hostile to African-American progress to become one of the select few early researchers in Alzheimer’s disease. In 1912, he published the first comprehensive review of Alzheimer’s disease — a two-part seminal piece that:
🔹 Reviewed the 11 known cases at the time
🔹 Translated Alzheimer’s original case into English for the first time
🔹 Performed ground-breaking research on the physical changes in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients

Despite his foundational contributions, Dr. Fuller’s legacy has largely been ignored in mainstream histories of the field — a reminder of how many voices and achievements have been left out of scientific narratives.

We celebrate Dr. Fuller’s resilience, brilliance, and contributions to advancing our understanding of dementia.

02/10/2026

👵🏽🧠 The future of ABA includes older adults — are you ready?

If you’ve been thinking about expanding into senior care and dementia services, our Behavior Gerontology CE Bundle was built for you.

🌟 SIX courses
⏳ 15 total CE hours
💸 $222.22 for the full bundle

Courses include:
1️⃣ All the Places You Can Go: A Survey of ABA in Gerontology
2️⃣ BCBAs in Dementia 101
3️⃣ Starting Your Own ABA Practice in Dementia Care
4️⃣ Ethics & Business Essentials
5️⃣ Behavior Assessment for Dementia Symptoms
6️⃣ Scrub-A-Dub-Dub: Shower Routines in Dementia

✔️ Practical, real-world application
✔️ Guided notes
✔️ Developed by BCBAs actively practicing in senior care

Whether you’re just exploring aging services or ready to build your own dementia-focused practice, this bundle gives you the foundation AND the next steps.

Start learning today 👉 www.abilities.today/learn

02/09/2026

💜🧩 Supporting Aging Adults with Down Syndrome & Dementia 🧩💜

Caring for an older adult with Down syndrome who is showing signs of Alzheimer’s or another dementia can feel overwhelming — but you don’t have to navigate it alone.

The Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis (DSAGSL) hosts a monthly Alzheimer’s & Dementia Support Group designed specifically for families and caregivers in this unique journey.

📅 2nd Thursday of each month
🕤 9:30–11:00 AM
📍 DSAGSL Office + Zoom option (any location invited!)

Topics include:
✨ Creating dementia-friendly environments
✨ Remaining safe at home
✨ Medical advocacy
✨ Rethinking expectations
✨ Maintaining self-care skills
✨ Open discussion for your questions & concerns

This group is also a valuable resource for professionals — including BCBAs and providers in the ID/DD and aging space — who want to better support families and collaborate thoughtfully in dementia care.

Learn more: https://dsagsl.org/family-support/support-groups/

You are not alone in this. Community matters. 💜

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