House Bill hb1207c1

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002             CS/HB 1207

        By the Council for Healthy Communities and Representatives
    Gibson, Weissman, Machek, Mahon, Clarke, Wiles, Richardson,
    Jordan, Paul, Argenziano, Kravitz, Hogan, Harrell, Baxley,
    McGriff, Kendrick, Gannon, Sobel, Spratt, Fiorentino,
    Harrington and Jennings


  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to health care; creating the

  3         Florida Alzheimer's Training Act; creating ss.

  4         400.4786, 400.55715, and 400.626, F.S., and

  5         amending s. 400.6045, F.S.; prescribing

  6         training standards for employees of home health

  7         agencies, adult day care centers, adult

  8         family-care homes, and hospices, respectively,

  9         that provide care for persons with Alzheimer's

10         disease or related disorders; prescribing

11         duties of the Department of Elderly Affairs;

12         providing for compliance with guidelines within

13         a certain time period; providing for department

14         approval of Alzheimer's disease training and

15         trainers; providing authority to adopt rules;

16         providing legislative findings and intent;

17         providing effective dates.

18

19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

20

21         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Florida

22  Alzheimer's Training Act."

23         Section 2.  Effective July 1, 2004, section 400.4786,

24  Florida Statutes, is created to read:

25         400.4786  Care for persons with Alzheimer's disease or

26  related disorders.--

27         (1)  As a condition of licensure, home health agencies

28  licensed under this part must provide to each of their

29  employees, upon beginning employment, basic written

30  information about interacting with persons with Alzheimer's

31  disease or a related disorder.

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  1         (2)  All employees who are expected to, or whose

  2  responsibilities require them to, have direct contact with

  3  clients with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder must,

  4  in addition to being provided the information required in this

  5  section, also have an initial training of at least 1 hour

  6  completed in the first 3 months after beginning employment.

  7  This training must include, but is not limited to, an overview

  8  of dementias and must provide basic skills in communicating

  9  with persons with dementia.

10         (3)  An individual who provides direct care to a person

11  with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder shall be

12  considered a direct caregiver and must complete the required

13  1-hour training and an additional 3 hours of training within 9

14  months after beginning to work with the home health agency.

15  This training shall include, but is not limited to, managing

16  problem behaviors, promoting the client's independence in

17  activities of daily living, and skills in working with

18  families and caregivers.

19         (a)  The required 4 hours of training for certified

20  nursing assistants are part of the total hours of training

21  required annually.

22         (b)  For a health care practitioner as defined in s.

23  456.001, continuing education hours taken as required by that

24  practitioner's licensing board shall be counted toward this

25  total of 4 hours.

26         (4)  For an employee who is a licensed health care

27  practitioner as defined in s. 456.001, training that is

28  sanctioned by that practitioner's licensing board shall be

29  considered to be approved by the Department of Elderly

30  Affairs.

31

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  1         (5)  The Department of Elderly Affairs or its designee

  2  shall approve the required 1-hour and 3-hour training provided

  3  to employees or direct caregivers under this section. The

  4  department must consider for approval training offered in a

  5  variety of formats. The department shall keep a list of

  6  current providers who are approved to provide the 1-hour and

  7  3-hour training. The department shall adopt rules to establish

  8  standards for the trainers and the training required in this

  9  section.

10         (6)  Upon completing any training listed in this

11  section, the employee or direct caregiver shall be issued a

12  certificate that includes the name of the training provider,

13  the topic covered, and the date and signature of the training

14  provider.  The certificate is evidence of completion of

15  training in the identified topic, and the employee or direct

16  caregiver is not required to repeat training in that topic if

17  the employee or direct caregiver changes employment to a

18  different home health agency or to an assisted living

19  facility, nursing home, adult day care center, adult

20  family-care home, or hospice.

21         Section 3.  Effective July 1, 2003, section 400.55715,

22  Florida Statutes, is created to read:

23         400.55715  Care for persons with Alzheimer's disease or

24  related disorders.--

25         (1)  As a condition of licensure, adult day care

26  centers licensed under this part must provide to each of their

27  employees, upon beginning employment, basic written

28  information about interacting with persons with Alzheimer's

29  disease or a related disorder.

30         (2)  All employees who are expected to, or whose

31  responsibilities require them to, have direct contact with

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  1  clients with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder must,

  2  in addition to being provided the information required in this

  3  section, also have an initial training of at least 1 hour

  4  completed in the first 3 months after beginning employment.

  5  This training must include, but is not limited to, an overview

  6  of dementias and must provide basic skills in communicating

  7  with persons with dementia.

  8         (3)  An individual who provides direct care shall be

  9  considered a direct caregiver and must complete the required

10  1-hour training and an additional 3 hours of training within 9

11  months after beginning employment. This training shall

12  include, but is not limited to, managing problem behaviors,

13  promoting the client's independence in activities of daily

14  living, and skills in working with families and caregivers.

15         (a)  The required 4 hours of training for certified

16  nursing assistants are part of the total hours of training

17  required annually.

18         (b)  For a health care practitioner as defined in s.

19  456.001, continuing education hours taken as required by that

20  practitioner's licensing board shall be counted toward this

21  total of 4 hours.

22         (4)  For an employee who is a licensed health care

23  practitioner as defined in s. 456.001, training that is

24  sanctioned by that practitioner's licensing board shall be

25  considered to be approved by the Department of Elderly

26  Affairs.

27         (5)  The Department of Elderly Affairs or its designee

28  shall approve the 1-hour and 3-hour training provided to

29  employees and direct caregivers under this section. The

30  department must consider for approval training offered in a

31  variety of formats. The department shall keep a list of

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  1  current providers who are approved to provide the 1-hour and

  2  3-hour training. The department shall adopt rules to establish

  3  standards for the trainers and the training required in this

  4  section.

  5         (6)  Upon completing any training listed in this

  6  section, the employee or direct caregiver shall be issued a

  7  certificate that includes the name of the training provider,

  8  the topic covered, and the date and signature of the training

  9  provider.  The certificate is evidence of completion of

10  training in the identified topic, and the employee or direct

11  caregiver is not required to repeat training in that topic if

12  the employee or direct caregiver changes employment to a

13  different adult day care center or to an assisted living

14  facility, nursing home, home health agency, adult family-care

15  home, or hospice. The direct caregiver must comply with other

16  applicable continuing education requirements.

17         Section 4.  Effective July 1, 2004, section 400.626,

18  Florida Statutes, is created to read:

19         400.626  Care for persons with Alzheimer's disease or

20  related disorders.--

21         (1)  As a condition of licensure, adult family-care

22  homes licensed under this part must provide to each of their

23  employees, upon beginning employment, basic written

24  information about interacting with persons with Alzheimer's

25  disease or a related disorder.

26         (2)  All employees who are expected to, or whose

27  responsibilities require them to, have direct contact with

28  clients with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder must,

29  in addition to being provided the information required in this

30  section, also have an initial training of at least 1 hour

31  completed in the first 3 months after beginning employment.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002             CS/HB 1207

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  1  This training must include, but is not limited to, an overview

  2  of dementias and must provide basic skills in communicating

  3  with persons with dementia.

  4         (3)  An individual who provides direct care shall be

  5  considered a direct caregiver and must complete the required

  6  1-hour training and an additional 3 hours of training within 9

  7  months after beginning employment. This training shall

  8  include, but is not limited to, managing problem behaviors,

  9  promoting the client's independence in activities of daily

10  living, and skills in working with families and caregivers.

11         (a)  The required 4 hours of training for certified

12  nursing assistants are part of the total hours of training

13  required annually.

14         (b)  For a health care practitioner as defined in s.

15  456.001, continuing education hours taken as required by that

16  practitioner's licensing board shall be counted toward this

17  total of 4 hours.

18         (4)  For an employee who is a licensed health care

19  practitioner as defined in s. 456.001, training that is

20  sanctioned by that practitioner's licensing board shall be

21  considered to be approved by the Department of Elderly

22  Affairs.

23         (5)  The Department of Elderly Affairs or its designee

24  shall approve the 1-hour and 3-hour training provided to

25  employees or direct caregivers under this section. The

26  department must consider for approval training offered in a

27  variety of formats. The department shall keep a list of

28  current providers who are approved to provide 1-hour and

29  3-hour training. The department shall adopt rules to establish

30  standards for the trainers and the training required in this

31  section.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002             CS/HB 1207

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  1         (6)  Upon completing any training listed in this

  2  section, the employee or direct caregiver shall be issued a

  3  certificate that includes the name of the training provider,

  4  the topic covered, and the date and signature of the training

  5  provider.  The certificate is evidence of completion of

  6  training in the identified topic, and the employee or direct

  7  caregiver is not required to repeat training in that topic if

  8  the employee or direct caregiver changes employment to a

  9  different adult family-care home or to an assisted living

10  facility, nursing home, home health agency, adult day care

11  center, or hospice.

12         Section 5.  Effective July 1, 2003, section 400.6045,

13  Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

14         400.6045  Patients with Alzheimer's disease or other

15  related disorders; certain disclosures; training.--

16         (1)  A hospice licensed under this part which claims

17  that it provides special care for persons who have Alzheimer's

18  disease or other related disorders must disclose in its

19  advertisements or in a separate document those services that

20  distinguish the care as being especially applicable to, or

21  suitable for, such persons.  The hospice must give a copy of

22  all such advertisements or a copy of the document to each

23  person who requests information about programs and services

24  for persons with Alzheimer's disease or other related

25  disorders offered by the hospice and must maintain a copy of

26  all such advertisements and documents in its records.  The

27  agency shall examine all such advertisements and documents in

28  the hospice's records as part of the license renewal

29  procedure.

30         (2)  A hospice licensed under this part must provide to

31  each of its employees, upon beginning employment, basic

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002             CS/HB 1207

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  1  written information about interacting with persons with

  2  Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder.

  3         (3)  All employees who are expected to, or whose

  4  responsibilities require them to, have direct contact with

  5  patients with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder must,

  6  in addition to being provided the information required in this

  7  section, have an initial training of at least 1 hour completed

  8  in the first 3 months after beginning employment. This

  9  training shall include, but not be limited to, an overview of

10  dementias and shall provide basic skills in communicating with

11  persons with dementia.

12         (4)  An individual who provides direct care to a person

13  with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder shall be

14  considered a direct caregiver and must complete the required

15  1-hour training and an additional 3 hours of training within 9

16  months after beginning to work with the hospice. This training

17  shall include, but not be limited to, managing problem

18  behaviors, promoting the patient's independence in activities

19  of daily living, and skills in working with families and

20  caregivers.

21         (a)  For certified nursing assistance, the required 4

22  hours of training shall be part of the total hours of training

23  required annually.

24         (b)  For a health care practitioner as defined in s.

25  456.001, continuing education hours taken as required by that

26  practitioner's licensing board shall be counted toward this

27  total of 4 hours.

28         (5)  For an employee who is a licensed health care

29  practitioner as defined in s. 456.001, training that is

30  sanctioned by that practitioner's licensing board shall be

31

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  1  considered to be approved by the Department of Elderly

  2  Affairs.

  3         (6)  The Department of Elderly Affairs or its designee

  4  shall approve the required 1-hour and 3-hour training provided

  5  to employees or direct caregivers under this section. The

  6  department must consider for approval training offered in a

  7  variety of formats. The department shall keep a list of

  8  current providers who are approved to provide the 1-hour and

  9  3-hour training. The department shall adopt rules to establish

10  standards for the trainers and the training required in this

11  section.

12         (7)  Upon completing any training described in this

13  section, the employee or direct caregiver shall be issued a

14  certificate that includes the name of the training provider,

15  the topic covered, and the date and signature of the training

16  provider. The certificate is evidence of completion of

17  training in the identified topic, and the employee or direct

18  caregiver is not required to repeat training in that topic if

19  the employee or direct caregiver changes employment to a

20  different hospice or a home health agency, assisted living

21  facility, nursing home, adult day care center, or adult

22  family-care home.

23         Section 6.  An employee hired on or after July 1, 2002,

24  need not comply with the guidelines created in this act before

25  July 1, 2003, or July 1, 2004, as provided.

26         Section 7.  The Department of Elderly Affairs or its

27  designee must approve the initial and continuing training

28  provided pursuant to this act.  The department shall keep a

29  list of current providers who are approved to provide initial

30  and continuing training.  The department shall adopt rules to

31  establish standards for the trainers and the training required

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  1  in this act. Any trainer or training curriculum approved by

  2  the department or its designee pursuant to this section shall

  3  be approved to meet any Alzheimer's training requirements

  4  mandated for providers licensed under chapter 400, Florida

  5  Statutes.  However, any trainer seeking approval to provide

  6  the training required for assisted living facility employees

  7  must also submit proof of qualifications and a separate

  8  training curriculum that meets the standard for trainers and

  9  training in s. 400.4178, Florida Statutes, and rules adopted

10  by the department to implement s. 400.4178, Florida Statutes.

11         Section 8.  The Legislature finds that Alzheimer's

12  disease and related disorders pose an urgent health need in

13  this state. Therefore, each state university, college, or

14  postsecondary school that prepares undergraduate or graduate

15  students for health professions as described in chapter 456,

16  Florida Statutes, is encouraged to include in its curriculum

17  basic training about Alzheimer's disease and related

18  disorders.

19         Section 9.  Except as otherwise provided herein, this

20  act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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