AGE-u-cate Training Institute Blog

According to IHS (Indian Health Service), cognitive impairment and dementia affect individuals and families in all tribal and urban Indian communities. The prevalence will increase dramatically as the population ages. By 2060, the number of American Indian and Alaska Native people aged 65 and older living with memory loss is projected to grow over five times. This funding opportunity provides greater flexibility and enhanced access for new awardees to address their communities’ unique and growing needs.

Dementia training and education are all the buzz these days. We need to better prepare our workforce, families, and communities for rapidly rising rates of people living with dementia. How do we tackle this public health priority as we move forward in creating dementia-friendly societies? To better prepare our workforce, families, and communities for this public health priority, we need innovative approaches. One such approach that has shown great promise is experiential learning, which offers a unique and effective way to educate and empower care partners, families, and communities to create dementia-friendly societies.

Let's first discuss the framework of experiential learning. This model offers a uniquely high retention and growth opportunity for participants surpassing traditional education methods. Experiential learning uses a blended education approach, including activity, reflection, communication, feedback, and observation.  

So what is the secret sauce to the powerful components of experiential dementia learning and education?  

1. Learning by Doing

 At the heart of experiential learning is the idea of learning by doing. Unlike traditional classroom style or online learning, experiential learning engages the senses and encourages participants to tap into their own feelings and emotions. By immersing themselves in the experience of living with dementia, participants gain a deep understanding from the inside out, leading to higher retention and growth opportunities. This approach breaks down the barriers to traditional classroom style or online learning by engaging the senses and encouraging the participant to tap into feelings that they experience themselves. 

2. Learning through Reflection

In our high-tech, high-speed world, the power of silence and reflection is often a component that is missing in traditional training methods. Experiential learning allows one to walk through an experience soulfully and thoughtfully. By tapping into the powerful emotions one can experience living with dementia, learning takes place from the inside out. 

3. Learning by Application

Instead of traditional fact-checking and testing, experiential learning effectively walks the participant from the "aha" moment to apply skills and tools that make sense. The participant bridges the inside-out sensory and emotional experience through this process with greater application to real-world scenarios. 

                                                  In my last blog,I discussed the steps to prolong your caregiver training program, focusing on sustainability. Now I want to take our discussion one step further to level up your caregiver training. 

For those who have followed my last 5 blog posts, I've delved into the topic of caregiver training and education - and how to take it to the right level. Phew! Lots of content to consume. Last week, I discussed how to measure the impact of your training. Next in this series, I want to discuss prolonging the life of your training program.  

On one of our latest blogs, we provided guidelines on measuring training effectiveness. 

Now let's look at measuring training's financial impact.

Last week I discussed the concept of Empowered Skills and provided a checklist for evaluating the effectiveness of your training program. Proper evaluation of your training programs will ensure you have a process in place of requesting and receiving feedback from caregivers on the training you've provided. Training is only effective if you know what caregivers are thinking. 

Last week I talked about the shift to experiential learning and the vast benefits "learning by doing" has to participant-facing training. Now let's discuss a concept called empowered skills. 

If you read my blog last week, I discussed focusing on what works in caregiver training and education, utilizing core guiding principles and steps to create an effective training program. There are many benefits to training that works, the most important being just that! The results will speak for themselves when you take your training to the right level.  

Given today's staffing shortages and high turnover, let's set achievable goals for dementia training. After all, at the end of the day, don't we all want to be able to say, "the training works simply!". Of course, we do. If training works, that means it aligns with business goals and achieves positive outcomes.  

"The goal of any training should be to empower caregivers, give them the tools to work with, and be flexible enough with the material to honor the uniqueness and diversity of each individual you work with." – Dr. Rose Joudi, Aging & Ethnic Diversity Consultant. 

What does training mean? 

Training is the action of teaching a person a particular skill or type of behavior. 

In aging services, this means showing caregivers how to identify different scenarios and conditions to best care for sub-groups of older adults across emotional, physical, and other elements of health. In addition, training includes learning how a caregiver can take care of themselves in moments of stress and challenging situations. But is something else missing when we look through the lens of aging services and training trends? Let's dig into this a bit more. 

Although there is no one-size fits all for training, there are some guiding principles to keep in mind as a helpful guide:

1. Consider what your caregivers need to learn 

2. Identify and assess goals for training 

3. Weigh all available options 

4. Decide on what training best meets your staff's learning  styles 

5. Evaluate and gather feedback 

Utilizing these principles, the following steps will help guide you in an effective dementia training program: