Review of the CAIT online training programme for dementia and the introduction of a new tool for assessing training in communication

Abstract

Communication and interaction training (CAIT) is a person-centred training programme developed during an intensive three year period of teaching, coaching and supervision of staff from a group of over thirty care homes in the North East of England. As part of CAIT, staff are helped to acquire greater ‘dementia care literacy’ which involves them developing the ability to articulate their existing skills in the delivery of effective care. The programme recognises that staff are already experts in the area, owing to their daily experiences of managing stress and distress. As such, the training builds on existing skills, although aiding and refining where necessary. CAIT is concerned with understanding the micro-skills of providing good dementia care and managing behaviours that challenge. The original programme was delivered using manuals (trainer and trainee booklets), but an online version was produced in 2021 and is now being rolled out nationally. This paper examines the use of the online version of CAIT delivered to ten staff working in ‘general’ hospitals in the Birmingham area. The article also describes the development, and use, of a new questionnaire based on a Northern Irish competency scale.The findings showed that CAIT was rated very highly in terms of relevance and overall quality. The training was judged to have been delivered very well. The new questionnaire was found to be promising as a measure of the quality of carer training. The scores of CAIT using the questionnaire revealed the programme to be comprehensible and understandable across a range of knowledge-based and skill-based questions.