Introduction

These free resources give you a taste of the ICE Dementia Framework in action. Each one is quick, practical, and designed to make an immediate difference in day-to-day care.
Use them to build empathy, support reflection, and strengthen your team’s approach to dementia care.

Resources by Topic

1. Building Empathy and Reflection

Help staff understand the resident’s perspective and support managers in reviewing current practice.

Dementia STAR Exercise

A 5-minute experiential activity that helps staff feel what it’s like to live with brain confusion. Use it in staff meetings or handovers to spark empathy and discussion.

ICE Resident Needs Map

When your staff member completes this training you will have a focused understanding of your resident's needs to keep them well and prevent the development of behaviours of concern/ BPSD

Staff Experiential Exercises

A short handout to help managers introduce empathy-building exercises in staff training sessions.

2. Supporting Personal Care

Reduce distress during personal care by identifying triggers and ensuring consistency across staff.

Personal Care Template – Understanding Unmet Needs

• Personal care is one of the most common times when residents experience distress.
  This template helps staff investigate possible unmet needs, agree on supportive approaches, and reduce distress during care.

One-Page Summary Table – Agreed Support Plan at a Glance

Once a support plan is agreed, this one-page summary keeps everyone on the same page.  It provides a quick reference for all staff, showing the resident’s needs and the strategies that work best.

3. Compliance and Team Training

Align staff practice with compliance expectations while strengthening person-centred care.

California Compliance Checklist

Quick reference guide showing how the ICE Dementia Framework maps to CMS compliance standards.

Manager 5-Minute Audit

A reflective tool for nursing home managers to quickly assess current use of antipsychotic medication and highlight areas for improvement.

FITS Research Article

The research foundation behind this approach. Learn how FITS (Focused Intervention Training & Support) demonstrated reductions in antipsychotic prescribing and improvements in resident well-being.

Sample Evidence Binder

Our sample Evidence Binder shows managers how to pull together training results, policies, and audit findings into one place — making it easy to demonstrate safe, person-centred care to inspectors.

Next Steps

These tools are just the starting point. The full ICE Dementia Framework builds on them to create a complete system for dementia care, team alignment, and compliance.