Evaluating a National Person-Centered Training Program to Strengthen the Dementia Care Workforce

Summary

This project will compare two training models of an evidence-based online dementia care training program for direct care staff in assisted living to a waitlist control: 1) essentiALZ training and 2) essentiALZ training + Project ECHO. It will examine the extent to which each model is implemented and achieves its intended outcomes to improve staff knowledge and attitudes, change care practices, and improve the wellbeing of staff, residents, and residents' family members. Results will inform next steps in dementia care training for the assisted living (AL) and broader long-term care workforce.

To examine these outcomes, data will be collected from AL staff and families over the course of 6 months. Staff will complete questionnaires and participate in interviews (as applicable) at baseline, post-training, 3-months, and 6-months. Families will participate in interviews at baseline, 3-months, and 6-months.

Conditions

• Aging
• Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Long-Term Care
• Dementia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

essentiALZ

essentiALZ is a web-based training that contains three hours of self-paced content separated into five modules, plus a final review. Modules include: 1) Alzheimer's disease and dementia; 2) person-centered care; 3) assessment and care planning; 4) activities of daily living; and 5) behaviors and communication. Staff will be encouraged to take the training over the course of four weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

Project ECHO

ECHO is a virtual tele-mentoring model grounded in case-based learning. It includes six weekly one-hour sessions of didactic and discussive learning. The first five sessions will reflect the content of the five essentiALZ modules, and the final session will address maintenance. ECHO sessions are group sessions that will be conducted via Zoom.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Alzheimer's Association

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-04-12

Primary Completion

2027-04-30

Completion

2027-04-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations