Dean Black’s education training proposal for Alzheimer’s disease ‘very personal’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, said his bill adding education training for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is “very personal” to him, as his dad is experiencing Alzheimer’s. 

Black explained that currently, the training for those who work directly with people with Alzheimer’s disease and certain forms of dementia is “inconsistent.”

“Any of us who have someone who has gone through this process, has seen circumstances where through no fault of their own, a staffer of some sort, has not known how to deal with someone who has Alzheimer’s or dementia,” Black said. “We’ve all run into these examples. I’ve run into numerous of them.”

Black’s legislation ​​establishes minimum training and education requirements for direct caregivers who take care of people with Alzheimer’s disease and certain forms of dementia. It passed the Florida House last week. 

Black told Florida’s Voice the bill “closes up the gaps” in the training for these types of diseases because there are cases where training is “either absent or inconsistent.”

“So this will help make sure that when we have a loved one that we need to get care for, we will know that there’s a certain level of training there to protect them and care for them and love them the way that we should,” Black said.

Black said this bill is very personal to him because his father is in a memory care facility now, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

He shared how his personal experience with his father affects why he is pushing this bill.

Black said the Bible tells us to honor our fathers and mothers, “that’s the fifth commandment,” and “this is all part of that.”

“And with the way I was raised, we were raised to respect our elders,” Black said.

Black said under the bill, the training is not just going to be available for direct caregivers, but will also be made available to any Floridian, free of charge.

“You’ll be able to go to the Department of Elder Affairs and you’ll be able to get this training to help you take care of your loved one,” Black said.

Black explained that Florida “lead[s] the nation in a lot of things” and this bill is “one of those things that we need to lead the country.”

He said his bill places a training requirement under the purview of Florida’s Department of Elder Affairs and would provide “the highest possible level of care to our loved ones.”

“So that when we get new training, new techniques, cutting edge things that emanate from the Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence, they will be able to put that out into the field more or less instantaneously,” Black said.