A. Each long-term care facility that is subject to the Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training Act shall provide at least four hours of dementia training to each direct care service staff member that it employs on:

Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 24-17B-3

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.

(1)     recognizing and treating Alzheimer’s disease and dementia; (2)     person-centered care;

(3)     activities of daily living;

(4)     an overview of the different types of dementia;

(5)     strategies to manage the behavior of people who have dementia; and

(6)     strategies to effectively communicate with people who have dementia. B. Training may be online or in-person and shall be a training program of at least four hours. Each long-term care facility shall submit the training program that it uses or proposes to use to the department for review. If the department finds that the training program does not satisfy the purposes of the Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training Act, it shall require the long-term care facility to submit a new proposed training program.

C. A person designing the training shall have at least two years of work experience related to Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, health care, gerontology or other related field.

D. Every direct care service staff member shall complete the requirements for and obtain a training certificate as provided in Subsection E of this section.

E. A direct care service staff member:

(1)     hired after January 1, 2022 shall complete the training required pursuant to this section within ninety days of the start of employment;

(2)     hired prior to January 1, 2022 who has not received training equivalent to the requirements set forth in the Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training Act shall complete training within sixty days of January 1, 2022;

(3)     hired prior to January 1, 2022 who received training within the past twenty- four months equivalent to the requirements set forth in the Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training Act shall be issued a training certificate by the long-term care facility that employs the direct care service staff member; and

(4)     who has successfully obtained a training certificate but has had a lapse of dementia-related direct care service employment for twenty-four consecutive months or more shall complete training within ninety days of the start of employment.

F. Any long-term care facility that contracts for the services of a direct care service staff member may include a requirement in the contract that the direct care service staff member has received dementia care training that satisfies the requirements of the Long-Term Care Facility Dementia Training Act.