Cabrini of Westchester [in Dobbs Ferry, NY] was awarded a grant to enhance Cabrini’s Dementia program on its Garden Level, the memory care unit for residents with moderate to severe dementia. Awarded by The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation in December 2019 in the amount of $40,000, the grant is designed to provide staff with additional training and equipment that will improve the quality of life for the residents.
Upon receiving the grant, a Dementia Grant Committee Team was formed to organize and implement it in order to 
the limits and ideas of what can be applied to Cabrini and the Garden Level. The program will educate, train and certify staff to care for the residents on the Garden Level and to understand the needs and wants they may have. It includes therapeutic sensory stimulation equipment, such as boards, dolls and robotic companion pets that can be used on the unit to sooth agitation. In addition, a Tovertafel table, an animated table that has been proven to increase sensory stimulation and calm the residents in the memory care units is included.
With the grant, we have contracted with two organizations to help Cabrini through certifications both individually and as an accreditation for the whole program. The organization certifying staff is the National Council for Certified Dementia Practitioners. Comfort Matters is the second organization, which will provide accreditation to Cabrini of Westchester’s program itself. On February 27, staff attended the first Dementia Education Seminar, followed by the second on March 4, both hosted by the NCCDP. Thirty-four staff members attended a seminar and completed applications to become Certified Dementia Practitioners. A PowerPoint presentation by Comfort Matters held on March 16, will be followed by accreditation visits in the upcoming months.