Most persons living with dementia will exhibit at least one behavioral or psychological symptom of dementia (BPSD). Such behaviors can be especially challenging for family caregivers, who may be offered little information about what to expect or how to respond. The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to train dementia care professionals throughout Wisconsin and give them tools to share with caregivers.
The DICE Approach™ was developed by experts from the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University to help caregivers learn how to identify and manage BPSD. DICE stands for Describe, Investigate, Create and Evaluate. This evidence-based approach teaches caregivers how to describe or interpret the behaviors caused by dementia, create a response that can work, then evaluate the outcome. The approach can reduce stress for caregivers and may help persons with dementia stay in their homes longer. DICE is available online, which was especially helpful as we adapted our training during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the University of Michigan Program for Positive Aging and University of California, Davis, we offered training to Dementia Care Specialists, Dementia Leads from Aging and Disability Resource Centers and other dementia care professionals. Our goal was to help these professionals support the family caregivers of persons with BPSD. In addition, our team provided consultation services to assist and guide dementia care professionals in the use of DICE, particularly with challenging situations.
Learn More
For professionals and family caregivers interested in learning more about how to use DICE, a one-year online training subscription can be purchased at diceapproach.com.
The DICE Approach manual can be purchased here.
To understand and support the work our partners deliver to individuals with dementia and their caregivers, the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute provided consultation services to assist and guide them through the process. These consultations are provided by Molly Schroeder, CSW; Tammi Albrecht, DNP and Art Walaszek, MD.
Dementia Capable WI DICE Training
Please fill out this form to access our guide to implementing the DICE approach.
