New strategies are urgently needed to improve Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/RD) trainingfor 4.6 million professional direct care providers that assist 8.3 million older adults in the US. Assisted livingfacilities (ALF) and personal care agencies (PCA) are the largest and fastest growing segments of the long-term care industry, but where there also are concerns about minimal practice standards, training, andoversight. Current training options lack customization and flexibility to address the diverse backgrounds ofproviders and their individual learning styles. Inadequate training causes undue stress, a lack of empathy, workdissatisfaction, job turnover and higher training costs. ProActive Memory Services, Inc. will test a revolutionarynew strategy that transforms occasional, episodic AD/RD training to continuously accessible training usingmobile software. We hypothesize that advantages of individually customized training, increased on-job supportand supervision, and efficient documentation will lead to adoption of this new approach. In Phase I we willevaluate training needs and preferences in semi-structured interviews, focus groups and surveys with 10 directcare providers and administrators in 4 ALF and PCA organizations to guide the development of prototypeprofessional training software based on our commercial mobile software for family caregivers,MemoryCarePartner©. Modifications of our software platform will consistently direct learners to pre-programmed training pathways, individually tailored to role, level of training, care setting, state andorganization and allow personal tracking of training progress. Learners can explore text and audiovisualcontent to fit individual learning styles. The flexible format adapts to diverse learner abilities and irregular workschedules. In Phase II we will evaluate educational outcomes and sustained engagement when using ourprototype training software through server data, user and administrator online feedback, focus groups andinterviews. Our findings in four successive groups of 10 direct care trainees will be used to develop iterativecode sprints to modify our training software and optimize observed user experience and educationalachievement. Maximizing value also will be achieved through improved documentation of regulatory trainingrequirements and the likelihood of organization adoption and commercial potential of this new training strategy.Our ultimate goal is to use our proactive and preventative focus to facilitate evidence-based collaborative andperson-centered care to thus improve the quality of professional direct care for the growing number ofAmericans facing AD/RD.
Public Health Relevance Statement: CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONAL ALZHEIMER DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS Project Narrative - ProActive Memory Services, Inc. New strategies for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/RD) training are urgently needed for 4.6 million professional direct care providers that assist 8.3 million older adults in the US. ProActive Memory Services, Inc. will develop and test a revolutionary new strategy in assisted living facilities and personal care agencies that transforms occasional, episodic AD/RD training to continuously accessible training using mobile software. We will evaluate educational outcomes and sustained engagement and optimize our software to enhance adoption and commercialization with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of care for the growing number of Americans facing AD/RD.
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