Sessions at Dementia: Communication, Collaboration, and Confidence

Pre-recorded sessions are on-demand and last about an hour, so you can watch them whenever your schedule permits!

Foundations of Dementia Care and the Role of SLPs
Malathy Venkatesh, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will define dementia; discuss the different types of dementia and neuropathology; and describe its signs, symptoms, and progression. The presenter will discuss the role SLPs play throughout the progression of the condition, highlighting the importance of person-centered care.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• explain the progression through the various stages of dementia and the preserved abilities at each stage
• design a plan of care that uses person-centered care principles and techniques
• develop strategies to prioritize a person's agency rather than managing their behavior

From Diagnosis to Dialogue: Understanding and Explaining Dementia Nomenclature
Becky Khayum, MS, CCC-SLP

Families affected by cognitive decline are often overwhelmed by complex diagnostic language, and SLPs are expected to translate that information into clear, supportive education for patients and care partners. This session will share practical, person-centered strategies (e.g., visual supports, counseling approaches, and health literacy techniques) as well as real-world examples and adaptable tools to help you accurately explain dementia; reduce anxiety; and engage care partners across outpatient, home health, rehab, and memory care settings.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• utilize visual communication supports to translate complex clinical terminology into accessible, person-centered language that supports accurate disease education for individuals with dementia and their care partners
• apply evidence-based counseling techniques to facilitate diagnostic conversations about dementia nomenclature and disease progression, supporting informed decision-making and communication goal-setting

Scope and Support: The SLP’s Role in Dementia Pharmacology Education
Becky Khayum, MS, CCC-SLP

SLPs often encounter people living with dementia—as well as their families—who are overwhelmed by the complex pharmacological landscape of dementia treatment. While prescribing is outside our scope, SLPs play a critical role in translating medical information into accessible, functional formats. This session will address the communication gap by providing evidence-based strategies to educate families without overstepping clinical boundaries. The session will illustrate creating and implementing visual communication aids that help people living with dementia and their families track symptoms and organize concerns for their medical team. By the end of this session, you will have practical tools to empower people living with dementia to lead more informed and productive discussions with their neurologists.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• differentiate between the SLP’s role as a communication educator and the physician’s role as a prescriber to ensure ethical adherence to the scope of practice
• design three types of visual communication aids (e.g., symptom trackers, question builders, medication schedules) tailored to the cognitive needs of people with dementia
• implement counseling strategies that empower people living with dementia and their families to formulate and communicate targeted questions for their neurologist using visual supports

Assessment for Treatment Planning in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Supporting Communication Before Dementia
Alyssa M. Lanzi, PhD, CCC-SLP, and Faith Stagge, MA, CCC-SLP

This session will describe an SLP’s role in supporting language and communication abilities before the onset of dementia, at a possible early stage known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Speakers will discuss the distinct communication and language characteristics of individuals with MCI and review assessment tools for communication and language, including patient-reported outcome measures and discourse analysis. The speakers will present a case study to help illustrate how to apply assessment results when creating individualized treatment goals.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• describe core communication and language changes in people with MCI to patients or family members
• integrate subjective (i.e., patient-reported outcome measures) and objective (i.e., discourse analysis) data for a holistic assessment of communication abilities 
• formulate functional, individualized treatment goals based on communication and language assessment

Not All Dementia Looks Alike: Clinical Profiles and Care Strategies
Natalie F. Douglas, PhD, CCC-SLP; Kathy Rogers, MEd; Esther Kane, RN, MSN; and Julia Wood, MOT, OTR/L

Individuals with frontotemporal degeneration, Lewy body dementia, and early onset dementia present with unique clinical and cognitive-communication profiles and require tailored assessment, communication strategies, and care planning. In this panel discussion, presenters will address differential profiles, adapting your approach across the care continuum, and connecting patients and families with resources and support.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• differentiate the clinical and cognitive-communication profiles of individuals with frontotemporal degeneration and Lewy body dementia from typical Alzheimer's disease presentations
• identify how disease-specific features and trajectories shape assessment priorities, communication strategies, and care planning for individuals with rare dementias and their care partners
• connect patients, families, and interdisciplinary teams with relevant organizations and lived-experience perspectives that support meaningful participation across the disease course

Primary Progressive Aphasia: Assessment, Intervention, and Person-Centered Care Across the Continuum
Jeanne Gallée, PhD, CCC-SLP

This session will present current approaches to assessing and managing primary progressive aphasia (PPA) across disease stages. The speaker will review the distinguishing features of the major PPA variants, evidence-informed intervention strategies, and practical methods to support functional communication and participation, with emphasis on person-centered, strengths-based care, including counseling, caregiver training, compensatory supports, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The session is designed to support clinicians new to PPA as well as those seeking to expand their clinical tool kit for working with individuals living with PPA.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• differentiate the variants of PPA using current diagnostic criteria and outline how they may impact communication over time
• implement evidence-informed, person-centered assessment processes as the disorder progresses
• integrate strengths-based, participation-focused treatment planning to support autonomy, identity, and meaningful life engagement for individuals living with PPA and their communication partners
• confidently counsel patients and families about prognosis, expected progression, and available supports, while adapting clinical decision-making to the evolving needs of this population

Primary Progressive Apraxia of Speech (PPAOS)
Rene Utianski, PhD, CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS

Primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS) is a neurodegenerative syndrome in which speech motor planning deficits emerge as the first, and sometimes only, clinical symptom. This session will provide an in-depth look at the core clinical features and presentations that define this condition. The speaker will explore a systematic approach to differential diagnosis, emphasizing the critical distinctions between PPAOS, primary progressive aphasia, and other motor speech disorders. Finally, the session will discuss evidence-based management strategies and the role of compensatory tools in maintaining functional communication as the disease progresses.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• apply differential diagnostic criteria to accurately distinguish PPAOS from related conditions
• outline at least three evidence-based, person-centered management strategies for PPAOS

Rethinking Dementia Assessment: An Ongoing, Person-Centered Process
Natalie F. Douglas, PhD, CCC-SLP

Clinicians across the care continuum often face pressure to complete dementia assessment as a single, pre-treatment task focused on standardized cognitive screeners, even though these measures alone do not capture communication, participation, or what matters most to the person. This session will address why assessment must extend beyond cognitive screening, when to revisit assessment as patients move across settings and stages, and how to treat assessment as an ongoing, relational process embedded in routine clinical encounters. Using the CONNECT framework (a person-centered, strengths-based, multidomain assessment framework) and case vignettes spanning multiple dementia etiologies and care settings, you will learn about selecting brief tools, interpreting behavioral expressions, and translating findings into functional, participation-focused care plans. The session will provide a practical reorientation that honors regulatory and productivity realities while centering the person across the full care trajectory.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• explain why standardized cognitive screeners are insufficient to guide communication-focused or person-centered care for adults living with dementia
• identify the core domains that shape participation across settings
• apply the seven CONNECT domains to organize assessment information gathered through observation, brief tools, and partner input
• distinguish behavioral expressions linked to unmet needs, sensory load, fatigue, or environmental mismatch from those reflecting cognitive-linguistic impairment, and adjust assessment interpretation accordingly

A Framework for Clinical Reasoning in Dementia Care
Meredith Grant Kinne, MA, CCC-SLP

Clinical care for adults with dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions is complex due to atypical presentations and a clinical picture that evolves alongside the disease. Thus, SLPs need to continually reinterpret the meaning of their findings. This session will focus on critical thinking, introducing a clinical reasoning framework and applying it directly to dementia cases. The session will illustrate differentiating expected disease progression from acute changes and adapting reasoning as the patient’s presentation advances.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• analyze a dementia case using a clinical reasoning framework
• differentiate expected disease progression from acute changes when interpreting cognitive-communication ability
• adapt clinical reasoning across the disease trajectory as the patient's clinical picture evolves

Clinical Eyes Wide Open: Documentation and Goal-Writing for Dementia and Other Progressive Conditions
Ardie Zimmerman, MS, CCC-SLP, RAC-CT, VS-CT

Creating and documenting effective, person-centered treatment plans for patients with progressive conditions such as dementia remains a challenging area for many clinicians. This session will provide a detailed look inside an electronic medical records platform from an SLP's perspective to illustrate how to document medical necessity and create measurable and functional goals for a patient with dementia.

Content disclosure: This session focuses on the Point Click Care (PCC) and Net Health electronic medical record systems.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• document and create individualized, person-centered, abilities-based plans of care for patients with dementia or other progressive conditions
• select the clinically appropriate focus of treatment for your patients
• document functional and measurable person-centered goals

Addressing Cognitive Contributions to Dysphagia in Individuals With Dementia
Ainsley S. Martin, MS, CCC-SLP

This session will highlight clinical pathways for assessment and intervention for individuals with dementia and dysphagia. The speaker will discuss distinguishing between dysphagia caused by dementia and dysphagia resulting from other conditions, as well as how to advocate for instrumental swallowing assessment for individuals with dementia when appropriate. The session will highlight interventions for cognitive-based dysphagia to maximize overall quality of life in relation to swallowing function.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• explain the connection between dementia and dysphagia, including the unique risk factors, causes of dysphagia and dementia, and the impact of cognition in swallowing
• compile an assessment tool kit—including detailed chart reviews, case history, reports from caregivers, lab values, and a clinical swallow evaluation—to differentially diagnose cognitive-based dysphagia vs. dysphagia from other causes in individuals with dementia
• generate scripts to advocate for additional assessment, including instrumental swallowing evaluations when indicated, for individuals with dementia and dysphagia
• implement interventions in collaboration with other formal and informal caregivers for individuals with dementia and dysphagia, with consideration for cognitive and communication function

Better Conversations: How and What to Focus on in Speech and Language Services for People With Dementia
Anna Volkmer, PhD

Maintaining connections with family and friends is often an important goal for individuals with dementia. This session will describe how to work with people with dementia and their families to develop personalized strategies to enhance conversation and interactions.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• analyze video of a conversation with a person with dementia to identify potential barriers and facilitators to work on
• support people with dementia and their care partners to set goals targeting changes in conversation behaviors
• explain how a range of practice and reflection tasks can enhance behavior change

Dementia Treatment in Action
Adria Thompson, MA, CCC-SLP

This session will be an idea-packed hour of real-world dementia intervention. Through practical treatment examples, video demonstrations, and discussion of evidence-based intervention strategies, the speaker will explore what dementia treatment looks like across mild, moderate, and advanced stages of the disease. The session will highlight practical strategies that support communication, engagement, participation, and quality of life, including interventions embedded within everyday routines and activities of daily living. You will leave with immediately applicable treatment ideas and a clearer vision of how to translate person-centered dementia care into meaningful clinical practice.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• analyze dementia case examples to determine how evidence-based intervention principles can be translated into functional, person-centered treatment activities
• adapt treatment approaches across mild, moderate, and advanced stages of dementia to support communication, participation, and quality of life
• integrate activities of daily living and interdisciplinary treatment approaches into dementia intervention plans to promote meaningful participation

Communication Partner Training to Support Person-Centered Communication
Naomi Folder, MSpchLngPath

Communication can be one of the main challenges for people living with dementia and their formal care partners (e.g., home health aides, nursing assistants, private care partners), leading to negative outcomes for people living with dementia and care partners alike. Communication partner training (CPT) is vital to support care partners in their care roles and improve communication across various health care settings. This session will demonstrate the importance of communication supports for care partners, helping you advocate for SLPs services; identify needed communication strategies based on assessment, literature, and living experiences; and train care partners across a range of care settings to use supportive communication strategies and other communication aids through evidence-based behavior change techniques.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• develop a plan for assessing conversations between people living with dementia and care partners
• identify CPT strategies that reflect both literature and living experiences to facilitate person-centered communication
• design a group training session and document clear, achievable goals for care partners across hospital and residential settings

Supporting People With Dementia: Ethics and Decisions Towards the End of Life
Paula Leslie, PhD, MA Bioethics, CCC-SLP, FRCSLT

Clinicians often find it difficult to preserve person-centered choice as the foundation for decision-making when cognition is impaired. Not all decisions require the same level of cognitive processing, and ethical frameworks can help clinicians consider how to maximize the patient voice throughout their journey with dementia. This session will explore how planning ahead and applying principles of justice can help SLPs support people living with dementia in expressing needs, participating in decisions, and maintaining dignity through end-of-life care.

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• apply the principle of justice to ensure the patient’s needs and voice remain central to the care plan
• develop strategies for proactive advance care planning that involve the patient throughout the progression of cognitive decline
• explain two frameworks in ethical practice that support people with dementia towards the end of life