Hospice Austin and its Austin Palliative Care program have made dementia care a strategic priority in expanding access to end-of-life support.
Hospice Austin and Austin Palliative Care first zeroed in on dementia care roughly a year-and-a-half ago. The organization reached its first milestone in May, with at least 50% of its patient-facing staff certified in dementia care.
The Texas-based nonprofit’s growing focus on dementia support has increased patient and staff satisfaction, according to Hospice Austin CEO Herb Dyer. The hospice provider has also seen improved employee retention and patient referral rates, Dyer said.
“There’s a significant percentage of our population diagnosed with dementia,” Dyer told Hospice News. “Dementia enhancement helps not only the patients and families, but it also helps us. The team has made a huge distinction with what we’re doing. We are seeing an uptick in our growth in terms of patients on service. That impacts not only the quality value of the organization’s name, but also improves the [return on investment (ROI)]. It improves the financial basis of where we are. We want to make sure it’s a sustainable business.”
Rising demand
Established in 1979, Hospice Austin provides services across five counties in central Texas. The hospice also operates a 15-bed inpatient facility, Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, which it purchased in 1998. Hospice Austin also has a Pet Peace of Mind program designed to assist with patients’ companion animal needs.
Dementia care is integral to Hospice Austin’s suite of services. The nonprofit provides hospice, palliative care, bereavement and family caregiver support.
The organization has multiple certified dementia care practitioners (CDPs) across its hospice and palliative clinical care teams. The hospice is working to certify 100% of its patient-facing interdisciplinary care staff.
The organization is the only hospice provider in the United States to be recognized as part of the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners’ Memory Care Excellence Network (MCEN), according to Hospice Austin.
Dementia certification has become a required part of the nonprofit’s clinical onboarding and orientation, said Diana Wagner, director of training and education at Hospice Austin and Austin Palliative Care. Wagner is a registered nurse and began working as a case manager at the organization in 2019.
“Dementia care is a specialty that we just can’t afford to keep on the sidelines anymore,” Wagner told Hospice News. “This program needed to be very robust and incorporate everybody, and really, we now consider it a core competency for all of our frontline staff.”
The hospice is anticipating that demand for dementia care will “blow up” over the next decade, Wagner said. About 20% of Hospice Austin and Austin Palliative Care’s current overall patient population have a dementia diagnosis.
Dementia conditions are increasing in prevalence, mortality rates and resulting in rising healthcare expenses nationwide, according to a 2026 Alzheimer’s Association report. Many individuals with dementia-related conditions have other comorbidities that need to be simultaneously managed, the report indicated.
One in three older adults dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia condition, reported the Alzheimer’s Association. Roughly 11% of seniors 65 and older nationwide suffer from these conditions, according to the association.
Significant opportunities exist with stronger dementia support, for providers, patients and family caregivers, according to Wagner. Many families lack the knowledge and resources to sufficiently and sustainably support an individual with dementia in a home setting, she said.
Return on investment
Prioritizing dementia education among its hospice and palliative care staff has resulted in increased community awareness and access, Wagner stated. Through Hospice Austin and Austin Palliative Care’s dementia services, family caregivers receive guidance on recognizing patient decline. They also receive support for managing stress, comfort, pain and other unique symptoms. The organization also provides community education, including dementia support groups.
“The sort of return on investment from a clinical standpoint is that the nurses and staff know what to look for, and they’re able to engage the family,” Wagner said. “We’re the experts in end-of-life and dementia care, because that looks different. So, with the clinical return, there is so much community return there too. People are seeing us as a distinguished hospice provider that has experts in dementia and caring for the whole person and the whole family that’s living with dementia.”
Employing a strategic dementia focus has resulted in quality improvements, Wagner indicated. Hospice Austin has seen increases in family satisfaction on its Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS) scores since the dementia care strategy was integrated.
The organization’s emphasis on dementia training and certification has resulted in increased retention rates and staff satisfaction, according to Wagner.
Hospice Austin has seen a roughly 14-point retention improvement rate. This is in part due to staff feeling less anxiety and better equipped to serve dementia patient populations, Dyer said.
The nonprofit has plans to expand the program with certifications in music therapy specifically designed to support patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia conditions. Music memory can be a “bridge for communication” when a patient declines, and has become an increasingly important part of providing high-quality care, Wagner said.
Prioritizing dementia support has helped to differentiate the hospice from other providers across its geographic service region, according to Dyer. Expanding dementia education beyond clinical teams will be an important part of making a meaningful patient impact, he indicated.
“It would be more of how we improve our retention,” Dyer told Hospice News. “We have 60 competitors. How do we attract people to come to us? That’s with really, really excellent clinicians. And, frankly, if leadership not only talks it, but walks it, it makes a huge difference because it shows that we are committed.”
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