The Florida Senate

As a condition of licensure, facilities licensed under this part must provide to each of their employees, upon beginning employment, basic written information about interacting with persons with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder.

All employees who are expected to, or whose responsibilities require them to, have direct contact with residents with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder must, in addition to being provided the information required in subsection (1), also have an initial training of at least 1 hour completed in the first 3 months after beginning employment. This training must include, but is not limited to, an overview of dementias and must provide basic skills in communicating with persons with dementia.

An individual who provides direct care shall be considered a direct caregiver and must complete the required initial training and an additional 3 hours of training within 9 months after beginning employment. This training shall include, but is not limited to, managing problem behaviors, promoting the resident’s independence in activities of daily living, and skills in working with families and caregivers.

For an employee who is a licensed health care practitioner as defined in s. 456.001, training that is sanctioned by that practitioner’s licensing board shall be considered to be approved by the Department of Elderly Affairs.

The Department of Elderly Affairs or its designee must approve the initial and continuing training provided in the facilities. The department must approve training offered in a variety of formats, including, but not limited to, Internet-based training, videos, teleconferencing, and classroom instruction. The department shall keep a list of current providers who are approved to provide initial and continuing training. The department shall adopt rules to establish standards for the trainers and the training required in this section.

Upon completing any training listed in this section, the employee or direct caregiver shall be issued a certificate that includes the name of the training provider, the topic covered, and the date and signature of the training provider. The certificate is evidence of completion of training in the identified topic, and the employee or direct caregiver is not required to repeat training in that topic if the employee or direct caregiver changes employment to a different facility or to an assisted living facility, home health agency, adult day care center, or adult family-care home. The direct caregiver must comply with other applicable continuing education requirements.