AGE-u-cate Training Institute Blog

                                                  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:   

In the sea of dementia care training, leaders can be overwhelmed when evaluating options. This article provides practical guidance if you are just getting started in creating a dementia training program or if you are re-evaluating current practices. 

Before you learn the six components that define quality dementia care training, I'm going to discuss four fundamental truths: 

We Must Educate, Engage, and Retain Employees

Aging service providers are experiencing dangerously high staff shortages that impact the quality of care, employee retention, and family satisfaction. These together directly affect the bottom line. 

Studies reveal a correlation between the lack of investment in care team education and turnover, with staff reporting feeling ill-prepared for their work with older adults, especially those with memory loss. It's time for a change!