Preferred registration deadline: May 1st

3 CEs

Social workers and allied professionals frequently encounter complex ethical and legal challenges when working with clients who have cognitive impairments that affect decision-making capacity. Balancing client self-determination, safety, dignity, and legal obligations can be especially difficult in cases involving dementia, executive dysfunction, or fluctuating capacity.

This workshop provides a practical and ethically grounded overview of decision-making capacity in clinical and community practice settings. Participants will explore common dementing illnesses, myths and misconceptions about cognitive decline, and the importance of early intervention. Through lecture, case examples, and small-group activities, participants will examine ethical dilemmas, supported decision-making approaches, and tools for assessing executive functioning and capacity. The training also reviews key legal concepts, including advance directives, guardianship, and conservatorship, and clarifies the social worker’s role within interdisciplinary systems of care.

This is an interactive synchronous distance learning course via Zoom. This workshop meets the licensure requirement for 3 hours of continuing education in ethics. Note: If you prefer CE's specific to Dementias for licensure instead of ethics, please contact our Professional Development office prior to the workshop.

General Admission: $65**
**Eligible discounts can be applied during checkout.

Class size is limited to 45.

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Course Outline

Content Level: Beginner

Target Audiences: Social Workers and mental health providers, specifically those working with Older Adult Populations

Agenda:

• Introduction to Dementing Illnesses - 10 mins
• Early Intervention, Myths, Medications, and Screening - 20 mins
• Ethical Issues and examples - 30 mins
• Decision-Making Capacity and Diagnostic Tools - 40 mins
• Group Activities - 20 mins
• Legal Components including definitions, types and degrees of legal capacity, and guardianship - 40 mins
• Social Workers Role and Case Examples - 15 mins
• Wrap up; Q & A - 5 mins

Learner Outcomes

• Identify and analyze ethical dilemmas that arise when clients have impaired or fluctuating decision-making capacity, applying relevant standards from the NASW Code of Ethics.
• Describe how cognitive challenges impact client self-determination, dignity, and rights, including ethical considerations related to advance directives and supported decision-making.
• Recognize basic tools and legal concepts used to assess decision-making capacity and explain the ethical role of social workers in interdisciplinary and legal contexts.

Course Completion Requirements:

• The Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, Professional Development, provider #2130, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/24/2025 – 9/24/2028. Social workers completing this course receive 3 ethics continuing education credits.
• The Brown School is also an approved provider of Social Work CEs in Missouri and Illinois.
• To earn ACE credit, attendees must arrive at the scheduled time, attend the entire course, and complete an online course evaluation. ACE credit is not provided for partial attendance.  However, you may still qualify for partial Social Work Missouri and Illinois CEs provided by the Brown School.
• Brown School CE Certificates will be available online within 10 business days of course completion by visiting your learner profile at https://ce.wustl.edu/portal/logon.do?method=load&parentSite=brown.  You will receive an email notification with specific instructions for accessing the online certificate when it is available. ACE CE Certificates, if requested in your evaluation survey, will be emailed within 10 business days of course completion.
• For more information about CEs, accessibility, refund/cancelation policy, our grievance policy, or other inquiries, please visit our About Us page or email brownprofdev@wustl.edu.