By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff

A loophole in Massachusetts law that allows nursing homes to advertise specialized Alzheimers and dementia care units, even though their workers may have no training in caring for such residents, is one step closer to being closed.

A proposal that would establish minimum standards for such units was approved by the House of Representatives Wednesday, and is headed for the state Senate.

The bill would require the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which regulates nursing homes, to establish minimum standards for facilities with dementia care units.

Similar legislation has been proposed for the past seven years without success, supporters said. But this is the first time the measure has made it this far, this early in the year, they said.

This is certainly way overdue, said James Wessler, president and chief executive of the Alzheimers Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Often nursing home placement is done in time of crisis, and families are then not good shoppers, Wessler said. So the state has an obligation to have a minimal level of guarantees that facilities are providing the level of dementia care that they say they are giving.

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states without such requirements. A 2005 federal report noted that 44 states at that time had requirements governing training, staffing, security, and other areas for facilities that provided specialized dementia care.

The Massachusetts legislation would require all licensed nursing homes to provide dementia-specific training for all direct-care workers, activities directors, and supervisors. Supporters said it was important to mandate dementia training for staff at all licensed facilities because more than half of people in nursing homes suffer from dementia, even if they are not living in specialized dementia care units.

Additionally, the legislation stipulates that there should be activities programs in dementia special care units that provide activities geared to people with dementia.

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Proposal advances for minimum standards in nursing homes, special dementia care units