Training for caregivers is a complicated subject. There is no universal curriculum or model for caregiver training. There isn’t any standardized caregiver training module either. Much of it boils down to how caregivers learn as they go.
If you think about the sustainability of your caregiver business, scattered and unorganized training is a bad idea. You must ensure a standardized model for all caregivers to follow. This also helps caregivers who do not where to start or how to learn a new skill.
In this quick 5-minute guide, we’ll briefly go over the essentials of caregiver training.
The essentials
For any training module, you should always start from the base. The basics of caregiver training include the following things:
- CPR and first aid training
- Dementia and Alzheimers training
- General cooking and cleaning skills
- Safety training for hazards (floods, fires, rainfall, snowfall, etc.)
- Bathing and incontinent care
- Nutrition training
- Counseling for dealing with sickness and death
As you can see, even the basic list contains several complicated issues. For instance, safety training for hazards requires you to spend a lot of time learning and figuring out the house you are in. This means a caregiver would have to reevaluate their strategy for every new client.
For CPR, first aid, dementia, and Alzheimer’s training, you need to spend at least a couple of weeks learning the practicing the steps. To put it in other words, caregivers must spend a substantial amount of time learning their trade before they start offering their services.
Oldage care
Caregivers would have to spend a lot of time working with the old and ailing. The way you treat an elderly patient is very different from the way you would treat a young boy with a fractured leg. It’s very important to understand the specific needs and requirements of elderly care.
All caregivers should know basic cooking and cleaning methods. While home health care aides do not engage in cooking, cleaning, etc., general home care aides need to master these skills. Even for healthcare aides, learning these basic skills will come in handy. Emergency situations can arrive at any moment in this profession. If you do not know how to make a simple sandwich or porridge meal, it will be a hindrance in your career trajectory.
Advanced medical procedures
Home health care aides would often have to undertake medical procedures like giving insulting shots and checking blood pressure levels. You cannot do any of these things without formal training. For home health care aides, in particular, proving basic nursing training is essential.
Many states require health care aides to obtain a certificate proving their skills. Even if it’s not mandatory in your state, you would not want to send an inexperienced caregiver to a patient who needs these medical procedures.
On the bright side, learning these skills does not take a lot of time. The more you practice, the better you get.
Mental health care
Caregivers must know about mental health issues like anxiety, depression, OCD, etc. Since caregivers deal with a wide range of patients, they must be prepared for any challenge. One of the biggest challenges is to provide both physical and mental health care.
Training caregivers to understand mental health issues is essential. They should know what to say to an anxious or depressed person, how to react in case of a nervous breakdown, and so on.
In other words, we can say that caregivers should have people skills. People skills broadly refer to the ability to interact with a wide range of people and make them feel comfortable.
Caregivers themselves must be in a mentally fit state to provide care for others. All caregivers must consider independent caregiver insurance to ensure peace of mind.
Community training
Caregivers often work in isolation. But that doesn’t mean they have to learn in isolation as well. Providing classroom training is important for caregivers to learn about each other’s experiences. It also introduces them to the different scenarios they would have to face as caregivers. For more dos and don’ts for caregivers click here.
Hands-on training
It’s not possible to learn or teach caregiving in a classroom. The core of the profession is caring for other people, and the training process should reflect that. Hands-on training is essential for all caregivers irrespective of whether they deal with medical procedures.
Dealing with sickness and death
Witnessing death is a part of any medical professional. But if you are not mentally prepared for it, the scar will be deep and long-lasting. It’s important to train caregivers to accept death and sickness. It requires a degree of disassociation, but more importantly, it requires caregivers to be professionals. The only way to achieve this is through a combination of hands-on experience and counseling.