A feasibility study of a brief person‐centered dementia training to promote more empowered staffing teams

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundAs a growing number of people with dementia are opting to age at home, the need for well‐trained, dementia‐knowledgeable nonmedical care teams has increased. An important and understudied member of the in‐home care team is the scheduler/staffing coordinator (SC). The SC often identifies an appropriate professional caregiver/care partner (CP) for the person with dementia, liaises between the CP and the client or client’s family, and provides informal coaching to the CP as challenges arise. The objectives were to: 1) develop a brief person‐centered dementia training program for SCs that is tailored to their role and 2) assess SC’s perspectives on the relevance and accessibility of the training.MethodA small group (N = 10) of SCs across three states and two in‐home care companies attended a four‐part dementia training covering 1) dementia types, symptoms, and experience, 2) behavioral and mood expressions of dementia, 3) mobility and approach considerations in dementia, and 4) engagement and person‐centered care for people with dementia. The SCs completed pre‐ and post‐training questions asking about training needs, confidence in coaching CPs and confidence in finding an appropriate client/care partner match. They were also asked to comment on the relevance and accessibility of the training.ResultPrior to training, SCs reported a desire to learn more about triggers in dementia; best practices for communication with CPs that consider cultural, social, and language differences; and tips for helping CPs who are feeling emotionally dysregulated or overwhelmed. There was a wider range of reported confidence in coaching CPs and finding an appropriate match. The SCs overall found the training to be relevant and reported being highly satisfied with the content. Suggestions to improve the training included shortening the training and simplifying the language.ConclusionSCs have a strong interest in increasing their knowledge about dementia, especially in terms of how to 1) best support CPs experiencing care challenges and 2) facilitate optimal client and CP matches. Future research can explore the impact of the training in a larger sample on outcomes including job satisfaction and self‐efficacy, burnout, and overall dementia knowledge as well as matching and coaching behaviors.