Dementia Awareness gives assisted living staff the foundation Minnesota requires for caring for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Minnesota Statutes section 144G.64 mandates dementia, mental illness, and de-escalation training; direct-care staff must complete at least eight hours of initial dementia training within 160 working hours of hire (80 in facilities with dementia care), plus ongoing training each year. This course delivers core content toward that requirement. In plain language the module explains what dementia is and is not, how it changes memory, judgment, language, and behavior, and why behavior is a form of communication. It teaches person-centered, validating communication, practical help with daily living, and problem-solving for challenging behaviors. The throughline is dignity through understanding: when you understand what the person is experiencing, you can meet the need behind the behavior instead of reacting to the behavior itself.