The Joint Commission, in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association, has launched a memory care certification program for assisted living communities, the commission announced Tuesday.
The specialty certification, which is voluntary, is meant to recognize communities that are accredited by the Joint Commission and meet its standards to support the delivery of high-quality care for residents in whom Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia have been diagnosed.
The new certification requirements reflect current evidence-based practices in memory care, and they align with the Alzheimer’s Association dementia care practice recommendations, introduced in 2018 for nonphysician caregivers in assisted living communities, nursing homes and other long-term care and community care settings.
In addition to updating existing recommendations already familiar to the dementia caregivers, the dementia care practice recommendations released in 2018 offer guidance to nonphysician residential and community-based care providers on detection, diagnosis and ongoing medical management — topic areas usually reserved for clinicians. Some of the other topics covered include assessment and care planning; ongoing care for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia; support of activities in daily living; staffing; and transitions and coordination of services.
Inclusion of the dementia care practice recommendations in the certification program “will ensure high-quality care in assisted living communities and offer families a valuable measure of quality to consider when selecting a care setting for their family members,” Alzheimer’s Association Chief Program Officer Kristen Clifford said in a statement.
The certification requirements also build on existing requirements for the Joint Commission’s assisted living community accreditation program and reflect feedback and expert guidance from a standards review panel and public field review.
The standards, according to the collaborators, specifically address the needs of residents living with dementia, including environment-of-care requirements that organizations provide visual cues or landmarks in the physical environment to assist with wayfinding, as well as provide an environment in which noises that may overstimulate or distress residents are minimized. Additional requirements address human resources; information management; leadership; medication management; the provision of care, treatment and services; and the record of care, treatment and services.
Gina Zimmermann, executive director of nursing care center and assisted living community services for the Joint Commission, noted that approximately 34% of assisted living community residents have diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, affecting residents, their families and caregivers across the country.
Collaboration announced in 2022
The Joint Commission and Alzheimer’s Association announced In January 2022 that they were collaborating in an effort to help improve quality and safety in dementia care. The partnership started with recognition for skilled nursing facilities, but in late 2022, the organizations sought feedback as they developed the certification program for assisted living. Assisted living providers considering the certification were asked to complete a 14-question survey regarding specific standards as well as answer other questions.
The July 1 launch of the memory care certification program for assisted living comes two years after the Joint Commission announced its assisted living community accreditation program, representing its first care continuum expansion in more than 20 years. At the time, the commission said that the program was needed due to a “shift in the assisted living industry from a more hospitality-based environment to a more healthcare-focused setting that offers services for medication management, skilled nursing and dementia care.” The accreditation program, the Joint Commission said, would bring “national, consensus-based standards” to the industry.
In late 2021, The Selfhelp Home, a nonprofit continuing care retirement community in Chicago, became the first senior living community to achieve the assisted living community accreditation.
Twenty-eight assisted living community locations are accredited as of July 12, the Joint Commission told McKnight’s Senior Living. An additional 37 locations have applied for assisted living community accreditation and are awaiting survey. Some of them will be adding memory care certification as well.
Almost 50 assisted living communities across the United States have committed to undergoing the new memory care certification process, the partners said. Communities that achieve the certification will be recognized on the Joint Commission’s Quality Check website and on the Alzheimer’s Association and AARP Community Resource Finder.
More information is available on the Joint Commission website.
