Improving Dementia Care in Assisted Living Residences: Addressing Staff Reactions to Training, Geriatric Nursing
Volume 30, Issue 3, May-June 2009, Pages 153-163
Linda Teri PhD, Glenise L. McKenzie RN, PhD, David LaFazia MSW, Carol J. Farran DNSc, RN, FAAN, Cornelia Beck PhD, RN, FAAN, Piruz Huda MN, ARNP, June van Leynseele MA and Kenneth C. Pike PhD
Abstract:
More than 1 million older adults, many with significant cognitive impairment, receive care in assisted living residences (ALRs), and their numbers are increasing. Despite this, ALR staff are often inadequately trained to manage the complex emotional, behavioral, and functional impairments characteristic of these residents. Nurses are in a unique position to improve this situation by training and supervising ALR staff. To facilitate such training, an understanding of staff reactions to receiving training as well as a systematic yet flexible method for training is needed. This article provides information on one such program (STAR—Staff Training in Assisted-living Residences), discusses challenges that arose when offering this program across 3 states in 6 diverse ALRs (rural, urban, for-profit, and not-for-profit sites), and describes how these challenges were addressed. We illustrate how nurses can successfully train ALR staff to improve resident and staff outcomes and offer guidance for those interested in providing such training.
Lancashire Care staff can request the full-text of this paper, email: susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk
Filed under: dementia | Tagged: care, care homes, dementia, Person Centred Care, problems, reactions, staff awareness, training
