Training Nursing Home Staff to Work with Alzheimer's Disease Patients

Nursing homes across the country are recognizing the need for providing services for Alzheimer's Disease patients. This reports describes and evaluates a two day training program and manual designed for training staff working with Alzheimer's Disease patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of this program, evaluation packets were mailed to staff of 24 facilities which had participated in the training program, and to 24 comparison facilities which did not. Results of the evaluation indicated that the conference attendees and staffs trained by the attendees scores higher on an Alzheimer's Disease information test and provided significantly more appropriate responses to two problem solving vignettes. Additionally, conference attendees and those they trained, reported increased skill in working with Alzheimer's Disease patients. Eighty-six percent of staff from conference facilities indicated that the training program provided them with new skills in working with AD patients and 87 percent reported using the manual to train new staff members. The subjects were asked to rate the individual chapters in the manual, and the behavioral management chapter was rated the most helpful. The utility of this training program, as it applies to training other staff working with Alzheimer's Disease patients is discussed and the need for further research in this area addressed. Participants were taught various problem solving skills for managing difficult situations which typically arise with dementia patients as well as methods of interacting with families, addressing burnout, and various screening and admission procedures.