Web-based Training

Alzheimer’s Disease (National Institute on Aging)

Price: $21
CE Credit: 7
Link: http://www.quantumunitsed.com/online-ceus/aging-dementia-alzheimers/alzheimers-disease.php
Description: This course was developed using information from the National Institute on Aging, which is the lead agency for Alzheimer’s Disease research at the National Institutes of Health. The purpose of the course is to explain what the disease is, describes the main areas in which researchers are working, and highlight new approaches for helping families and friends care for people with Alzheimer’s Disease. This valuable information would be helpful to professionals in the medical, mental health, or social work field, or for anyone who is interested in gaining more knowledge about this disorder which is the most common cause of dementia among older people.

Elderly Alcoholism

Price: $3
CE Credit: 1
Link: http://www.quantumunitsed.com/online-ceus/aging-dementia-alzheimers/elderly-alcoholism.php
Description: A general approach to the clinical management of older alcoholics. This paper includes practical screening tools and is submitted by the American Academy of Family Physicians. An excellent read!

Older Adults and Mental Health

Price: $24
CE Credit: 8
Link: http://www.quantumunitsed.com/online-ceus/aging-dementia-alzheimers/older-adults-mental-health.php
Description: This course material focuses on mental disorders (Alzheimers, Dementia, Depression) in older adults by reviewing the normal developmental milestones of aging and then considering the diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems for this population. It reviews gains that have been made in providing services to this age group and discusses nontraditional and informal treatment options (a review of the different types of nursing facilities) as well as the role of the family and community in assisting older adults through the aging process.

Older Adults: Mental Health, Aging and Substance Abuse Issues

Price: $54
CE Credit: 18
Link: http://www.quantumunitsed.com/online-ceus/aging-dementia-alzheimers/aging-substance-abuse.php
Description: Recommends best practices for identifying, screening, assessing, and treating people age 60 and older. This TIP is aimed at substance abuse treatment providers, primary care clinicians, social workers, senior center staff, and anyone else who has regular contact with older adults. The course manual discusses not only substance abuse but also disorders such as dementia, alzheimers and delirium. Practical accommodations to treatment for older adults and a discussion of how to assess outcomes and treat within a managed care context round out the document.

Relapse Prevention in Older Adults

Price: $48
CE Credit: 16
Link: http://www.quantumunitsed.com/online-ceus/aging-dementia-alzheimers/relapse-older-adults.php
Description: This manual presents a relapse-prevention approach that uses the cognitive?behavioral and self-management intervention (CB/SM) in a counselor-led group treatment setting to help older adults overcome substance use disorders. It is for counselors and other treatment providers working with older adults who have substance use disorders. (For simplicity, “counselor” refers to any staff member who uses the manual for its intended purpose, and “CB/SM” refers to the specific forms and combination of cognitive?behavioral and self-management treatment approaches described in this manual for use with older adult clients.)

A Culturally Sensitive Approach to Differential Diagnosis of Mental Health Problems in the Elderly: Depression, Dementia, & Delirium

Presenter: Julia Weinberg, JD, PhD
Price: $95
CE Credit: 4
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__84/
Description: Diagnoses of mental health conditions in the elderly can be extremely challenging. In fact, a large proportion of elderly patients present with cognitive, emotional, and behavioral signs and symptoms that do not even fit cleanly into well-defined (DSM-IVTR) diagnostic categories. This course discusses evidence-based approaches to assessing symptoms of cognitive impairment, mood, and psychosis that must be considered in differentiating diagnoses of depression, dementia, and delirium in the elderly. The discussion covers factors that contribute to under-diagnosis and misdiagnosis, including cultural differences and the clinical setting. Specifically, evidence-based instruments for brief cognitive screening are described. Further, an overview of common medical conditions that may underlie the presenting psychological symptoms are provided to facilitate appropriate referrals and/or follow-up for additional assessment and treatment.

Anticipatory Mourning in Alzheimer’s Family Caregivers

Presenter: Lee Stadtlander, PhD
Price: $95
CE Credit: 4
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__62/
Description: As Alzheimer’s disease progresses there are an increasing number of losses and changes in roles for the patient, as well as the caregiver. The change in role dynamics commonly leads to grieving and depression in the caregiver. Memories of the past, changes in the present and fear of the future may affect the caregiver’s ability to cope with the current reality and may additionally pose potential danger to the patient. This course examines the nature and effects of anticipatory mourning in Alzheimer caregivers. Specifically, expected losses and changes in the lives of the Alzheimer patient and caregiver are reviewed and appropriate interventions for health professionals to help caregivers cope with their mourning are presented.

Bereavement: A Comprehensive Guide for Health Professionals

Presenter: Mirsad Serdarevic, PhD
Price: $75
CE Credit: 3
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__86/
Description: In the United States more than 2 million persons die annually, often leaving surviving family members requiring support services to assist them with the grief process. Symptoms of bereavement are generally similar to symptoms characteristic of a Major Depressive Episode and can include sadness, insomnia, poor appetite and weight loss. However, grief can be experienced in different ways depending on factors such as age, gender, social and cultural influences, social supports and the provision of after-care services. While research efforts across health disciplines (i.e., counseling, psychology, social work, palliative medicine, psychiatry, and nursing) have led to evidence-based treatments for the bereaved patient, there remains a gap in the training of health professionals with regard to the delivery of care for bereaved persons. This course attempts to fill that gap with a comprehensive, overview of the roles health professionals play in caring for these patients and a theory-and evidence-based presentation of relevant treatment approaches. Specifically, grief stage theory, the importance of social and group support in the management of bereavement, and differential bereavement symptomatology across sociodemographic boundaries are discussed, including the impact of age and a cross-cultural perspective on bereavement and complicated grief treatment.

Emotional Changes After Stroke: Facilitating Adjustment to Involuntary Emotional Expressive Disorder and Other Psychological Sequelae

Presenter: Paula Finestone, PhD
Price: $75
CE Credit: 3
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__39/
Description: Stroke is an acute medical event with long-term physical, cognitive, and psychological impact on the patient and the family system. Current treatment for stroke includes medical stabilization and some level of physical rehabilitation. However, the cognitive-affective deficits resulting from stroke can be devastating to patients (i.e., Involuntary Emotional Expressive Disorder [IEED]) and caregivers as well. With present trends in reimbursement shifting the greater part of the recuperation process away from the hospital setting and into the community, primary providers including psychologists and other allied health professionals, are playing a greater role in patients’ recovery. Effective treatment of the psychological consequences of stroke can maximize a patient’s gains, improve quality of life, facilitate a productive lifestyle, and reduce excess healthcare utilization. This course reviews the prevalence, etiology, and consequences of stroke. Emotional sequelae of stroke for the patient and caregiver are discussed, with a focus on depressive and pseudodepressive disorders. Evidence-based assessment of post-stroke psychological disorders is presented. Current treatment trends and directions for future intervention research are reviewed.

Fundamentals of Healthy Aging: A Biopsychosocial Perspective

Presenter: Colin Depp, PhD
Price: $75
CE Credit: 3
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__56/
Description: Within the next several decades, people older than age 65 will outnumber children for the first time in recorded history. Accordingly, practitioners will need to have a fundamental understanding of the biological, psychological, and social theories of aging. Research on healthy aging suggests that it involves multiple dimensions that extend beyond longevity, spanning physical and emotional health, cognitive functioning, and social and productive engagement. Importantly, chronic disease and disability do not necessarily exclude older people from healthy aging. Familiarity with evidence-based interventions that address modifiable factors in aging, in order to lengthen the “healthspan” of aging persons, will be vital for healthcare providers. This course reviews the definition, determinants, and mechanisms of healthy aging. Current theories of healthy aging are discussed, along with the biological, psychological, and social processes involved in maintaining a high degree of functioning and well-being in later life. Finally, evidence-based interventions to promote healthy behaviors in older people are described, as well as how these interventions have been adapted for institutional care settings.

Human Sexuality: The Role of Aging and Illness

Presenter: Tinesha Banks, MPH & Ayana Bradshaw, MPH
Price: $75
CE Credit: 3
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__25/
Description: Many older adults experience sexual dysfunction as secondary to a primary acute medical illness such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, or arthritis. As concerns related to sexuality emerge from the background of the initial diagnosis and treatment for medical illness and become more salient, older patients may still not be comfortable addressing issues of a sexual nature, even in a confidential therapeutic context. Despite recent paradigm shifts in how we view and treat certain age-related and/or health-related sexual dysfunctions, it is not uncommon for issues of a sexual nature to be absent and/or minimized in the course of an older patient’s physical and psychological care. Given the “graying” of America, health professionals need to be knowledgeable about the multitude of medical and psychosocial factors that may arise as individuals age which can ? and do ? affect their sexuality. This course provides the tools necessary for health professionals to feel more secure with the facts about sexuality with regard to the “normal” aging process and to be more knowledgeable about how common medical illnesses within a geriatric sample can impact sexuality. The information in this course can raise personal and professional awareness on the subject and render clinicians more competent to sensitively address these issues in the psychological care of their older patients.

Optimizing Personal Control in Health and Aging Contexts

Presenter: Brad Mossbarger, PhD
Price: $50
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__83/
Description: Historically the literature on personal control has highlighted its positive impact on a number of psychosocial outcomes, with the exertion of greater degrees of control generally being equated with positive results. Recent research, however, has begun to challenge the notion of such a simplistic approach, pointing instead to a differentiation among various aspects of personal control and to specific personal and situational variables that make the implementation of control strategies more favorable. This course traces the evolution of personal control from a relatively global construct to its more contemporary multidimensional conceptualization. Further, reviews of the literature relevant to individualized applications of personal control strategies are provided and findings indicative of the utility of control adaptations in the face of aging and the advent of significant life and health events are discussed.

Psychosocial Issues at the End of Life: Definition, Theory, and Intervention

Presenter: Jeff Kendall, PsyD
Price: $105
CE Credit: 5
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__67/
Description: The emotional responses of people with incurable illness are multifaceted and may vacillate throughout their end of life care. Additionally, the psychological impact of a terminal illness is not limited to just the patient, but encompasses the entire family unit. This course provides healthcare professionals with a definition of end-of-life care as well as a description of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders during this phase of care. Psychological theories regarding death and dying are presented and lead into a description of the emotional reactions encountered by both patients and caregivers. This course concludes with a presentation of psychological treatment techniques used to overcome these emotional reactions and assist patients and caregivers to improve quality of life during the end of life.

Self Care for Professional Alzheimer’s Caregivers

Presenter: Lee Stadtlander, Ph.D.
Price: $95
CE Credit: 4
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__68/
Description: More than half of all nursing home residents, or more than 2 million long-term residents, have Alzheimer’s disease or other conditions causing dementia. Approximately 1.2 million professional caregivers provide this long-term and costly care. The available literature suggests that many professional caregiving issues are similar to that of family caregiving including physical exhaustion, emotional depletion, and grief at the loss of their patients. In addition, professional caregivers encounter other issues that family caregivers may not experience such as work overload, increased demands for efficiency within managed health care environments, job burnout, and staff turnover. This course examines the stressors inherent to working with Alzheimer’s patients and methods of self care for these professionals.

The Neuropsychology of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias

Presenter: Erik Lande, PhD
Price: $120
CE Credit: 6
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__60/
Description: In the approaching years, there will be significant growth in the senior population. This shift in patient demographics may create a burden on the healthcare system, practically and fiscally. It will be increasingly important for clinicians to have an understanding of the cognitive changes associated with normal aging versus dementias. This course reviews the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, with a focus on etiology, prevalence, and assessment. Differential diagnosis of other reversible conditions that mimic dementia such as depression and delirium is also reviewed. The treatment options available for patients with various forms of dementia are presented, an especially important topic as the field is changing quickly and many patients, and their caregivers, are unaware of these emerging developments.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): The Effects of Aging

Presenter: Randall W. Evans, PhD, ABPP
Price: $75
CE Credit: 3
Link: http://www.healthforumonline.com/OurCourses/Courses/47/categoryId__1/productId__64/
Description: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major health care concern in the United States, with approximately 1.5 million new cases of TBI annually resulting in 83,000 new cases of permanent TBI-related disability. At this time, approximately 6 million persons, or roughly 2% of the U.S. population, are living with a TBI-related disability. It is an especially relevant healthcare concern in light of the number of recent veterans returning from combat with TBI. While new neuro-imaging techniques and new medications are being developed to refine diagnosis and treatment of TBI, there are emerging concerns and research data to suggest that TBI, particularly severe TBI, may have a significant impact on the “normal” aging process across the lifespan. This course reviews the medical, psychological, and social consequences that can occur over time following TBI and the implications for improving quality of life in this population.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 1: Overview of End-Of-Life Issues for the Mental Health Provider

Price: APA Affiliates: $15; Non-members, $20
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360168.aspx
Description: This module provides an overview of end-of-life care in the United States and the unique roles, tasks and challenges for mental health providers working in this area of practice.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 2: Assessment and Treatment of Psychological Distress near the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360169.aspx/
Description: Psychological distress impairs the patient’s capacities for pleasure, meaning, and connection; erodes quality of life; amplifies pain and other symptoms; reduces the patient’s ability to do the emotional work of separating and saying goodbye; and causes anguish and worry in family members and friends. In fact, psychological distress, particularly depression, is a risk factor for suicide and for requests to hasten death.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 3: Assessment and Treatment of Pain at the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360170.aspx
Description: It is reported that approximately 75% of patients with advanced cancer have pain, and that 50% of terminally ill patients experience moderate to severe pain. In addition, estimates indicate that 25% of cancer patients die in severe pain. Studies have consistently shown that pain is frequently underdiagnosed and inadequately treated. The number of distressing physical symptoms also increases with disease progression so that patients with advanced disease report a median of 11 symptoms of distress.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 4: Diagnosis and Treatment of Cognitive Changes at the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360171.aspx
Description: Various types of disorders, diagnostic techniques, and treatment strategies are associated with end-of-life care. Cognitive changes may interfere with a patient’s having a “good death” and deprive families of the opportunity to communicate meaningfully with their loved ones, which may lead to significant distress. This module will introduce the two most common cognitive disorders present at the end of life: delirium and dementia.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 5: Grief and Bereavement

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360172.aspx
Description: This module will cover the theories, symptoms, and features of bereavement and grief. It will examine the features of complicated grief and review interventions for integrating loss and exploring reconstruction of meaning.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 6: Religious and Spiritual Issues At the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360173.aspx
Description: Nearly 90% of Americans say that they are religious or spiritual and clients and their families frequently face common spiritual and religious concerns at the end of life. A considerable body of research has demonstrated the link between religious/spiritual beliefs and health. Studies have shown that medically ill patients who rely on religion are less likely to develop depression, have lower rates of suicide, and enjoy a greater sense of well-being and positive emotions than those who do not.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 7: Family Caregiving Issues at the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360174.aspx/
Description: Many of us have had personal experiences with family caregiving. Those of us who have not are likely to anticipate experiences that we may have in the future with the aging of our parents, our partners, and other family members and friends. In end-of-life care, much of the attention focuses on the dying person. The caregiving role can be highly stressful, and research has shown that highly stressed caregivers are at risk for a variety of problems. At the same time, caregiving can be a role that leads some individuals to experience psychological benefits and personal growth from the roles that they have undertaken.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 8: Teamwork in End-Of-Life Care

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360175.aspx/
Description: Integrative care, in which providers collaborate in their assessment, treatment plans, treatment implementation, and outcome evaluation has also been a trend in primary care. Despite the increasing expectation and need for patient care to be integrated care, most mental health professionals do not receive systematic training in interdisciplinary team processes, functions, or interdisciplinary education

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 9: Law and Ethics Associated With Care at the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360176.aspx/
Description: Ethical and legal issues for the clinician often arise: (a) when decisions to limit treatment have the potential to affect the manner and timing of death, (b) when treatment decisions will deliberately hasten death, and (c) when the potential for boundary crossings or multiple relationships exists. There is a variety of types of law that may impact end-of-life care: federal, state, and local. Mental health professionals must take into account federal and state case law and federal and state statutes when providing services. They also need to be aware of their biases and the biases of other health care professionals regarding “appropriate” decisions in various end-of-life situations. Given that there are a number of ways that cultural beliefs can affect end-of-life decision making, it is important to know how these biases may be affecting interactions with patients and loved ones. These biases may also come into play when cultural beliefs can affect end-of-life decision making.

End of Life Continuing Education Program Module 10: Advance Care Planning at the End of Life

Price: APA Affiliates: $30; Non-members, $40
CE Credit: 2
Link: http://www.apa.org/education/ce/1360177.aspx/
Description: During the last few decades rapid advances in medical technology have added to the debate of quality of life, as opposed to quantity of life. When it is time to make difficult decisions about the use of life-sustaining medical treatment, many individuals are already so sick that they have lost the ability to make these decisions for themselves. For this reasons, it is important that people be encouraged to plan in advance for how they want medical decisions made for them near the end of life.