Tag Archives: Training

REVEAL Aging: The New Generation of Workforce Education

The Aging Services Industry faces a triple-whammy when it comes to workforce turnover and retention.

The first hit is the massive turnover that occurred and continues to occur because of the pandemic.   Second,  the turnover is on top of existing unfillable vacant positions.  Thirdly, there are new entrants into the field who have no prior experience caring for older adults.

We don’t want just warm bodies.  Yet, providers had to scurry and pull from every corner to get to bare staffing requirements.  Now, providers hang on hope that the good employees will not jump ship as the pandemic fades.  What are we to do about this massive issue?

Much of the focus will continue to  be on recruiting new employees, and rightly so.  However, great attention needs to be given to how to keep the new, good employees.  At the same time, it is critical to also maintain the spirit and engagement of the seasoned employees.

Recruitment and Retention:  Hand in Hand

I’m going to add a fourth whammy, and it is the scarcity of available time for employee training and education.

Time- nobody has it.  Not the Administrator, Director of Nursing or Human Resources Director.  So, how can we provide meaningful, affordable, and time-efficient education for employees?

While providers were on the front lines scraping for survival, AGE-u-cate Training Institute tackled these foreseeable  issues and developed a responsive and feasible employee education strategy.

Pam Brandon, AGE-u-cate’s Founder and President has unveiled REVEAL Aging:  The next generation of aging services employee education and training delivery that works.

The REVEAL Aging content focuses on improving quality of life and quality of care.  Each device friendly course consists of micro-learning segments of approximately ten minutes each.

This method provides on the spot learning that boosts engagement, closes skills gaps and fosters practical applications in the workplace.  Furthermore, content is compatible on smart phones, I-Pads and desk tops, making it accessible for all employees.

“The content gets to the core of what it takes to understand the aging process, and promote quality of life.  The topics are universal for all departments.  It is important that everyone working with older adults possess a deep understanding and elevate empathy.”  Pam Brandon, President, Founder AGE-u-cate Training Institute.

Learn more about REVEAL Aging in this 30-minute webinar, and by visiting the AGE-u-cate website.

Julie has worked in Aging Services for over 30 years and has been a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator since 1990. She is  the Director of Grants and Consulting Projects and a Certified Master Trainer with AGE-u-cate Training Institute. In addition, she is an instructor and of Gerontology and Leadership in Aging Services at Northern Illinois University and lives in the Chicago Northwest Suburb of Mount Prospect, IL.

Get Ready for Trauma-Informed Care

Beginning November 28, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will require nursing homes to provide trauma-informed care. Consequently, they must  “ensure that residents who are trauma survivors receive culturally competent, hence minimizing triggers that may cause retraumatization.”

What is Trauma?

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) describes the “Three E’s of Trauma.” First of all, the person is exposed to an event such as loss, violence, a natural disaster, or abuse. Next, he experiences the situation as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening. Finally, she has lasting adverse effects on well-being.

People express trauma differently, and some are more resilient than others. Furthermore, the impact of trauma is often confused with other conditions, such as depression or even dementia. Symptoms may have a delayed onset and include:

  • Physical: Aches and pains, poor sleep
  • Psychological: Anxiety, poor emotional control, flashbacks
  • Cognitive: Difficulty with memory and attention
  • Social: Poor trust in others, isolation
  • Spiritual: Lacks meaning in life

What is Trauma-Informed Care?

According to SAMHSA, trauma-informed care rests on a set of critical concepts referred to as “The Four R’s. These assume that all people within an organization:

  1. Realize that trauma exists and understand the impact and consequences of traumatic experiences.
  2. Recognize signs of trauma.
  3. Respond consistently using the principles of a trauma-informed approach.
  4. Resist the re-traumatization of people with traumatic histories.

Therefore new regulations for trauma-informed care expect facilities to:

  • Assess each resident’s exposure to traumatic events in their life.
  • Train staff in the impact of traumatic experiences.
  • Incorporate trauma-informed approaches into care plans.
  • Use strength-based interventions that maximize trauma survivors’ resilience to avoid retraumatization.

Acknowledging traumatic experiences and providing care that is sensitive to each individual is essential. However, I question how realistic this new regulation is for many nursing homes faced with high staff turnover. As a result, limited resources go to basic care and training in practical approaches.

In conclusion, how do you perceive the future trauma-informed requirements?

Ann Catlin, OTR, LMT: For twenty years, Ann led in the field of skilled touch in eldercare and hospice. She has nearly forty years’ clinical experience as an occupational and massage therapist. She created Age-u-cate’s Compassionate Touch program and serves as a Master Trainer and training consultant.

Rural Healthcare: Helping Caregivers and Persons Living with Dementia

Access to quality rural healthcare, resources, education, and support is a growing challenge in the US and around the globe.  What does this mean for the growing numbers of persons living with dementia and their families who are caring for them?  How does this affect the quality of care being offered by nursing homes and other care providers?

There are no easy solutions as options are dwindling for many rural communities.  Closures of hospitals mean less health care professionals to diagnose Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.  Community education for families, often a service offered by hospitals and clinics, is then not available.  When the infrastructure of healthcare, private providers and community-based services is compromised, access to much-needed support dwindles quickly.

I recently had the honor to work with the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy who collaborates with the Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health, both in Ontario Canada.  The University will be training its pharmacy students using our Dementia Live® and Compassionate Touch® programs and beyond that, they are will be working with Gateway to reach rural communities with desperately needed dementia education and training for families and professionals.

Reaching the indigenous people of the province will be part of this project.  In the 2016 census, the indigenous or Aboriginal peoples in Canada totaled 1,673,785 people or 4.9% of the national population.   Many of the indigenous peoples live in rural areas where access to services is limited.   Bringing dementia awareness and education to rural areas will help to spur collaboration amongst various organizations who need to work together to serve their aging populations and families.

Limited access to rural healthcare is a growing initiative in the US and other countries as the aging population swells.  Because family caregivers make up the vast majority of those caring for persons with dementia, providing quality training, support and access to resources is a top initiative for healthcare, long term care services providers and community-based organizations in urban areas who can collaborate with local services, faith communities and others who have a direct reach to many of the families who are struggling.

Finding local champions who see the value of collaboration, education and support services is ultimately the best measure of success, as the communities themselves embrace the challenges and solutions for their aging communities and the unique needs of persons living with dementia and their families.

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate® Training Institute and a passionate advocate for older adults and those who serve them.  

 

Improving Cultural Competence in Senior Care Through Training

The increasing diversity of the U.S. and other nations offers opportunities and challenges for senior care  care providers, health care systems, and policy makers to create and deliver services to culturally diverse patients and to train and increasingly culturally diverse workforce. Cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. Cultural competence comprises four components: (a) awareness of one’s own cultural worldview, (b) attitude towards cultural differences, (c) knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (d) cross-cultural skills.   Developing cultural competence through training can result  in a better ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures and can lead to a 15% decrease in miscommunication.  In senior care, this communications training can significantly improve outcomes, especially in caring for those with dementias, chronic illness, pain and at end-of-life.

Training the workforce on understanding cultural issues that are relevant to better understanding patient and family values and needs will.  Cultural competence enhances the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver health care services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients. A culturally competent health care system can help improve health outcomes and quality of care, and can contribute to the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities. Examples of strategies to move the health care system towards these goals include providing relevant training on cultural competence and cross-cultural issues to senior care and health professionals and creating policies that reduce barriers to patient/resident care.

Cultural competence training methods can enhance transparency between language, values, beliefs, and cultural differences. Training in cultural competence often includes careful consideration of how best to approach people’s various forms of diversity. This new found awareness oftentimes allows people to better establish  equity in their environments and enhances interrelationships between one another for increased productivity levels.

Pam Brandon is President/Founder of AGE-u-cate Training Institute, whose mission is to develop and deliver aging and dementia training to professional and family caregivers.  

www.AGEucate.com