CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONAL ALZHEIMER DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS

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CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONAL ALZHEIMER DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS Project Summary/Abstract - ProActive Memory Services, Inc. New strategies are urgently needed to improve Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/RD) training for 4.6 million professional direct care providers that assist 8.3 million older adults in the US. Assisted living facilities (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, and oversight. Current training options lack customization and flexibility to address the diverse backgrounds of providers and their individual learning styles. Inadequate training causes undue stress, a lack of empathy, work dissatisfaction, job turnover and higher training costs. ProActive Memory Services, Inc. will test a revolutionary new strategy that transforms occasional, episodic AD/RD training to continuously accessible training using mobile software. We hypothesize that advantages of individually customized training, increased on-job support and supervision, and efficient documentation will lead to adoption of this new approach. In Phase I we will evaluate training needs and preferences in semi-structured interviews, focus groups and surveys with 10 direct care providers and administrators in 4 ALF and PCA organizations to guide the development of prototype professional 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 and organization and allow personal tracking of training progress. Learners can explore text and audiovisual content to fit individual learning styles. The flexible format adapts to diverse learner abilities and irregular work schedules. In Phase II we will evaluate educational outcomes and sustained engagement when using our prototype training software through server data, user and administrator online feedback, focus groups and interviews. Our findings in four successive groups of 10 direct care trainees will be used to develop iterative code sprints to modify our training software and optimize observed user experience and educational achievement. Maximizing value also will be achieved through improved documentation of regulatory training requirements 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 and person-centered care to thus improve the quality of professional direct care for the growing number of Americans facing AD/RD.