Clearing The Confusion on Dementia Across Connecticut

There’s a public health crisis currently afflicting Connecticut and it’s not COVID, the flu or pneumonia.According to ct.gov, the number of dementia and Alzheimer's cases in seniors has risen to over 80,000 as of early 2026. While much is still misunderstood about this nebulous neurological disease, one family-owned eldercare company is helping to clear the confusion by offering a new specialized simulation training for its employees, client families and general public. Specifically, Assisted Living Home Care Services in Cheshire, Westport and Woodstock, today announced that it has become the first homecare agency in Connecticut to be named a certified Dementia Live^®Provider through the nationally-recognized AGE-u-cate Training Institute. The Dementia Live^® program is the newest tool in the powerful arena of sensitivity awareness training being used for the booming number of direct care staff, family caregivers, healthcare professionals, and college and university students.

“Our management team attended this immersive training, which consisted of both classroom instruction and virtual reality-style sessions, and after passing a rigorous exam, we earned the certification,” said Mario D’Aquila, MBA, chief operating officer of Assisted Living Home Care Services.“This is a huge honor for our company, and we are thrilled to offer the unique Dementia Live^® experience immediately to our caregivers and subsequently to families across Connecticut.”

D’Aquila explains that Dementia Live^® is an innovative program designed by a team of dementia, sensitivity, awareness, and professional development experts. Using specialized VR-like gear within a safe, experiential setting, the training gives participants a real-life simulation of what it feels like to live with dementia. For example, views in the googles are blurred to replicate poor eyesight and macular degeneration often experienced by the elderly, gloves are worn since a lot of seniors have tactile sensory issues and loud music is pumped through headphones to illustrate the confusing thoughts often pervading older minds. Under these challenging circumstances, program participants are then asked to complete seven simple tasks within seven minutes. D’Aquila notes that the average participant only completes one of these tasks.

“Participants truly gain greater awareness and understanding of the constant 24/7 struggles affecting people with dementia, which leads to more sensitive care partnering,” adds D’Aquila. “This specialized enhancement will only strengthen the knowledge, compassion and skillset of our caregivers which already undergo memory care training when hired.”

Throughout the next few months, Assisted Living Home Care Services will train its entire management team and caregiver staff with the Dementia Live^® experience. Once all leadership and employees have completed the program, the company will then offer the simulation to client families and the overall Connecticut community

"We are at the crossroads of understanding aging and dementia; this understanding is not an option but a necessity for every member of our society,” states Pam Brandon, president and founder of the AGE-u-cate Training Institute. “It is a worldwide phenomenon affecting every level of our society and we must equip those who are caring for and serving our aging population to better understand their challenges since we are living in a fast-aging world."

Assisted Living Home Care Services regularly trains its caregivers to provide services for seniors with memory difficulties, including a special dementia care certification program, which supervisors take, an initial orientation that includes two hours of training specifically tailored to clients with memory impairment, as well as offering frequent ongoing in-services throughout the year.

Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over several years. In its early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment. On average, a person with Alzheimer's lives four to eight years after diagnosis but can live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors.

For more information on the Dementia Live^® experiential training, please visit: www.assistedlivingct.com.

About Assisted Living Home Care Services, Inc.

Since 1996, award-winning home care agency Assisted Living Home C are Services, Inc. in Cheshire, Woodstock and Westport has provided quality care to residents across Connecticut. Its unique Care Plus program blends personal care by over 700 employees and caregivers with technological safety and monitoring devices from sister company Assisted Living Technologies, Inc. The company was ranked on the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies and recognized by Home Care Pulse® as a “Best of Home Care Leader In Excellence”, a designation given to the best home care providers in the nation. Assisted Living Home Care Services solely provides non-medical care. Learn more by visiting www.assistedlivingct.com or calling 203.634.8668.

About the AGE-u-cate Training Institute

AGE-u-cate has blended the power of experiential learning with dementia training by creating Dementia Live®, the first transformative education program serving the expansive needs across the aging spectrum - from families to multi-disciplinary professionals. Today, AGE-u-cate Training Institute's global footprint and unique niche of delivering highly effective, experiential aging and dementia care training are dynamically growing to meet the fast-changing needs of the aging world. Its team of passionate, like-minded professionals is committed to igniting change for aging service providers, empowering them to improve the lives of older adults while supporting and educating those who care for them.