Our Archives

Heat-related deaths and illnesses are preventable. Despite this fact, extreme heat kills approximately 1,220 people in the United States every year. Heat-related illnesses, like heat exhaustion or heat stroke, happen when the body is not able to properly cool itself. While the body normally cools itself by sweating, during extreme heat, this might not be enough. In these cases, a person’s body temperature rises faster than it can cool itself down. This can cause damage to the brain and other vital organs. Older adults, the very young, and people with mental illness and chronic diseases are at highest risk. However, even young and healthy people can be affected if they participate in strenuous physical activities during hot weather.

Course Objectives:

Obtain a fundamental understanding of heat risk and heat-related illness

Become familiar with methods of prevention and care

Learn the effects of excessive heat on children and the elderly

Know the risks of excessive heat for people with disabilities

Gain awareness of adverse heat effects on mental health

Understand the situations and needs of other high-risk groups

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a lifelong physical disability caused by a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move. The term “cerebral palsy” literally means that the brain lacks control over the muscles in the body. Damage to the developing brain during pregnancy​ or around the time of birth is the cause of CP. Body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture, and balance are all affected by this disability.

This course offers a detailed description of cerebral palsy, including how it is diagnosed and classified. The types of CP vary widely, and each type is explained in full. Common treatments for CP are covered, along with the therapeutic approaches of music therapy and spider therapy. The course concludes with a discussion of the innovations made possible by artificial intelligence to improve the quality of life for people with cerebral palsy.

Course Summary

The Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Final Rule ensures individuals have full access to the benefits of community living and the opportunity to receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate.The purpose of the rules is to ensure that individuals who receive services in settings that are integrated in and support full access to the greater community. This includes opportunities to seek employment and work in competitive and integrated settings, engage in community life, control personal resources, and receive services to the same degree as individuals who do not receive regional center services.

Course Objectives

Gain knowledge of the HCBS requirements and best practices

Steps to becoming HCBS compliant

Gain knowledge of the special HCBS rules as the rules apply to residential settings.

Course Summary 

PIN 22-13-ASC updates existing infection control prevention standards in community care facilities.  COVID spread has heightened awareness in the disability community for more specific and compelling protocols to stop the spread of infectious diseases.  Administrators will learn all aspects of infection control, from hand hygiene to creating a designated infection preventionist.   Administrators can use the course content to develop infection control policies and training programs.

The objective of the course is to gain knowledge of an Infection Control Plan that covers the following:

Hand Hygiene

Environmental Cleaning

Medication Management

Protective Equipment

Respiratory Hygiene

Infection Preventionist

Emergency Control Plan

As more transmissible variants of COVID-19 have appeared, the study and understanding of Delta, Omicron, and further mutations have been of great importance in the fight against the virus. This course will cover COVID variants including Delta and Omicron in depth. The course will also discuss the benefits of vaccination and booster doses, as well as the potential problems associated with the lifting and loosening of restrictions. An overview of where we are today, including therapeutics and specialized boosters, will round out the course.
Course Objectives

Knowledge and understanding of COVID-19 variant strains

Understanding of the benefits of vaccination and boosters

Awareness of the potential for Omicron-specific boosters

Recognition of the effects of loosening and lifting restrictions

Awareness of the current situation regarding COVID and projections for the future

Taking this course again? Click this button.

Buildings and Ground section (80007) of Title 22 states that the facility shall be “clean, safe, sanitary and in good repair at all times for the safety and well-being of clients, employees and visitors. The licensee shall take measures to keep the facility free of flies and other insects.” Licensing requires a SIR to be filed if bed bugs are present in a residential facility.

Bed bugs are looking for a blood meal and may appear in any home at any time. Unfortunately, the presence of bed bugs in residential settings is a common problem. There is a general lack of knowledge re what bed bugs are, how to assess if they are present and how to eradicate them. Residents that are victims of bed bugs suffer from bites that leave ugly sores and possible infection. Ugly stains may appear on furniture and walls.

Bed bugs are tenacious creatures that often are hidden and difficult to find. No home is immune or safe from infestation.  This online course will focus on to recognize an infestation, the health risks bed bugs pose, and how to prevent and eradicate them.

Course Objectives:

Know the facts about bed bugs and how they behave.

Learn methods of bed bug detection.

Understand the process of bed bug infestation.

Awareness of health risks associated with a bed bug infestation.

Familiarity with methods of bed bug prevention and eradication.

In-depth understanding of bed bug issues related to home health care.

 Course Summary

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths for older adults. One in five falls causes serious injury such as a hip fractures or concussion.  Problems with vision and balance, along with weakened bones and muscle loss, increase the risk for a fall.

Individuals with dementia are at higher risk for falls than people who do no have dementia.  Impairment in judgment, sensory motor perception   and difficulty communicating are a perfect storm for a fall.  Individuals with dementia who do take a fall are at increased risk for serious fractures than elderly people who are not cognitively impaired. Many risk factors in the environment can be modified to prevent falls.

The course will also take a close look at how individuals with cerebral palsy are also at increased risk for falls.

Course Objectives:

Understanding of the prevalence and consequences of falls among the elderly

Knowledge of how dementia is associated with increased risk or falls.

Knowledge of how medication, vision and hearing issues, and orthostatic hypotension can increase the risk for falls.

Lean ways to alter the environment to prevent falls.

As the brain deteriorates in dementia, challenging behaviors often appear. These behaviors range from problematic to inappropriate to aggressive, and they can even be dangerous to the person with dementia and others involved. This course will take an in-depth look into behavioral issues related to dementia, their causes, and what can be done to manage them. Particular attention will be paid to empathic understanding of the reasons behind problem behaviors and the techniques involved in person-centered behavior management. Common behavioral problems such as wandering, rummaging, agitation, aggression, hallucination, delusion, and apathy will be covered in detail, illustrating the full range of behavioral problems likely to be encountered in Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Course Objectives

Understand how deterioration of the brain can lead to problems with behavior

Become familiar with the types of behavior issues associated with dementia

Understand the reasons that cause behavior issues

Know the difference between actual and perceived behavioral problems

Learn how to best manage difficult behaviors

Gain familiarity with person-centered behavior management

Learn the difference between behavior excesses and behavior deficits, and how to manage them

Alzheimer’s disease is the cause of 60 to 70 percent of cases of dementia. Life expectancy after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is generally three to nine years. Nutrition, activity, and social bonding may help those with Alzheimer’s, but no medications have definitively proven to be effective. Treatments that may improve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are currently being studied with some success. This course will cover experimentation related to Alzheimer’s disease and the most promising methods being studied to prevent its onset and/or ameliorate its symptoms.

Course Objectives:

Familiarity with the variety of Alzheimer’s prevention efforts

Understanding of the ways that diet and nutrition may affect Alzheimer’s

Knowledge of the effects of exercise and physical activity

Awareness of both traditional and experimental medications and treatment options

Recognition of the results of experiments with cannabis treatment and legal roadblocks to experimentation

Comprehension of the positive effects of social bonding

Quizzes
Following each lesson, there is a quiz.  You must achieve a score of 70% to move on to the next lesson. The use of quizzes satisfies the CCL regulation that online courses be interactive.

Course Description
This five-hour online course covers Title 22 regulations for criminal background clearance for employees and live-in residents at CCL facilities. Each step is examined, from live-scan fingerprinting, to the declaration form, to the often misunderstood requirement for exemptions. Lessons also cover in detail how clearance and exemptions can be transferred from one licensed facility to another.

The purpose of criminal clearance is to prevent the exploitation, criminal abuse, and neglect of clients who live in residential care. The criminal background check process comes alive for the student through a look at real cases from the administrative law section of DSS. Administrative hearings adjudicate decisions on exemptions and the revocation of licenses. Finally, a course on criminal record clearance would not be complete without a survey of crimes committed in CCL facilities.

The word Dysphagia is from the Greek root “dys” meaning disorder and “phag” meaning food. People with dysphagia have difficulty swallowing and may even experience pain while swallowing (odynophagia). Some people may be completely unable to swallow or may have trouble safely swallowing liquids, foods, or saliva. When that happens, eating becomes a challenge. Often, dysphagia makes it difficult to take in enough calories and fluids to nourish the body and can lead to additional serious medical problems.

Course Objectives

Learn what dysphagia is and how it affects different populations

Learn how to treat dysphagia and minimize its effects

Understand dysphagia in the elderly, including those with dementia and Parkinson’s disease

Understand dysphagia’s connection to developmental disability

Learn techniques for handling youth dysphagia

Quizzes
Following each lesson, there is a quiz.  You must achieve a score of 70% to move on to the next lesson. The use of quizzes satisfies the CCL regulation that online courses be interactive.

LGBT Competency Training Is Required
If you did not receive LGBT Cultural Competency training as part of your Initial Certification Training, you must complete at least one hour of LGBT Cultural Competency training to renew your ARF, RCFE, GH or STRTP administrator certificate.

LGBT Competency Training
This five-hour course looks at how discrimination and bias in our culture affects LGBT individuals across the life span. The course begins with the history of the gay rights movement in the 1960s and how key figures such as Harvey Milk energized the movement.

A close look at both homophobia and hate crimes reveals the virulent nature of cultural taboos against homosexuality. The course covers how psychiatry viewed homosexuality as a mental disorder and endorsed conversion therapy. Over time, cultural attitudes toward LGBT individuals have shifted away from prejudice to more tolerance. In 2015 the Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage. Despite these gains, LGBT individuals continue to suffer from economic inequity, housing discrimination, and barriers to accessing health care.

Elder and Youth LGBT
The effects of a lifetime of stigma and discrimination can put many LGBT older adults at a greater risk for physical and mental distress, social isolation, depression and anxiety, poverty, chronic illness, delayed care-seeking, poor nutrition, and premature mortality. The course takes a close look at how LGBT seniors who struggled to come out of the closet as youth must now in their senior years face scorn and discrimination in assisted living environments. The course also examines how bullying of LGBT youth leads to depression, isolation, and higher rates of attempted suicide in LGBT youth. Lastly, the course reveals how family rejection and stigma are responsible for high rates of homelessness, drug abuse, and prostitution among LGBT youth.