As communication skills decline in people with dementia, a supportive environment becomes crucial to a resident's ability to express needs and desires. But how do you recognize what physical and social changes will help improve functioning, communication, and quality of life? The Environment & Communication Assessment Toolkit (ECAT) for Dementia Care is your answer! This evidence-based toolkit includes the tools you need to assess, intervene, and modify on an individualized basis to ensure the quality of life for people with dementia. Use the validated Assessment Forms, and in three easy-to-follow steps you will: Assess the activity performance with quick yes/no questions, evaluate the environment to identify barriers and problems, and pinpoint individualized recommendations for intervention. ECAT's developers are researchers and experienced clinicians who have made sure that ECAT integrates effortlessly into evaluation and treatment sessions, helps keep up case load demands with creative solutions, satisfies regulatory requirements, leads to straightforward functional therapeutic interventions, and identifies low-cost, person-centered environmental modifications. ECAT for Dementia Care has more than 300 specific recommendations for interventions and modifications that will reduce typical problems encountered during routine activities of daily living for people with dementia. Environmental changes such as supporting bathroom independence by increasing the size of sign lettering to identify spaces and using colored tape around a door handle, or encouraging social interaction by rearranging seating areas, can improve functional independence and resident well-being. The ECAT boxed set contains: ECAT Manual, ECAT Cue Card Pack, ECAT Assessment Forms, and CD-ROM (of reproducible forms and cards).
