Blog

Due to the increasing elderly population, there has become a much higher demand for community and home care. Subsequently, this means that more awareness needs to be brought towards providing quality care and consistent caregiver training to ensure each patient’s needs are satisfied.

A telephonic survey of more than 15,000 clients and caregivers shed light on how agencies wish to improve their employment and quality of care. However, this conversation accompanies complaints from clients, who stated, “I required a trained caregiver who would be capable of helping me. However, the home care agency sent me a caregiver who wasn’t trained with the skills required for such needs.”

Understandably, scenarios like these disappoint the client, tarnish the agency’s reputation, and may demotivate the caregiver. This is why it is important for your staff to receive caregiver training programs that will give them the tools they need to properly care for clients and enhance satisfaction among the caregivers.

Agencies will also be able to send prepared and confident caregivers to the client’s homes, leading to satisfied and happy clients.

Studies show that 74% of workers prefer learning new skills or re-training to remain employable. 76% of employees perceive their agency as appealing if they’re offered additional staff training.

94% of employees believe in staying with a company longer if they feel encouraged to upskill themselves.

Additionally, research shows that equipping your caregivers with 8 hours of onboarding training and 12 hours of ongoing training may enhance your agency’s revenue by $6,814 per caregiver.

Below is a list of some easy tips that you can use to motivate your caregivers and spark excitement about training.

Make Training Easier with Blended Learning:

A mundane schedule takes a toll on caregivers. Around 80% of caregivers in the United States work for multiple agencies to make ends meet. It is often daunting for caregivers to finish their training and absorb all the information presented with the number of hours they work.

With technology taking over every aspect of life during the global pandemic, there have been many home care agencies introducing online training options. Agencies created customized training material capable of accommodating their schedules and caregiver’s learning preferences.

Presenting your caregivers with blended learning options is a viable choice. This can be done by ensuring your caregiver mobile app has a perfect mix of different learning styles so that your caregivers can learn at their own pace.

Motivate Caregivers to Specialize in their Interest Areas:

Did you know that 70% of employees would quit their job to work for an enterprise that invested in their learning and employee development?

Personalized training is a worthwhile option for agencies to enhance caregivers career development and lessen employee turnover.

With these trainings, you may establish yourself as an agency that invests in your employee’s development to turn caregivers into confident home care experts and improve client care and satisfaction. For instance, you may like to:

1. Spread the word in your job ads that your agency’s willing to train inexperienced caregivers.
2. Invest in personalized training programs to cater to your caregivers’ areas of interest.
3. Present certificates and training badges for validating their hard work.

The suggestions above are perfect opportunities to equip your agency for growth!

Around 93% of employees wish for easy-to-complete training programs. 91% expect their training to be relevant and personalized.

Create a Relaxed Environment and Make Learning Fun:

Your home care caregiver applicant will be able to utilize the program’s benefits when they feel relaxed and enjoy what they are learning. This can be done by using short training sessions that are mixed into their everyday routine to help them retain more information.

You may also like to use numerous tools like PowerPoint presentations, videos, and other visual aids to enhance the experience. Or, you could present demonstrations using actual scenarios allowing caregivers to practice their hands-on skills while providing real caregiving services, making learning even more impactful.

With self-paced programs, caregivers can complete the sessions at a time that works best for them without experiencing pressure of any kind.

Make Room for Regular Evaluations:

To ensure that your training efforts are beneficial and your caregivers are applying the necessary skills, it is recommended that you evaluate their performance regularly.

For instance, you could liaise with the caregiver’s supervisors to confirm whether or not their recently-learned skills were put to use. Additionally, you may realize that some caregivers struggle to grasp the new skills. If this is the case, you may want to rethink your current teaching methods or make arrangements for further sessions.

Home care agency experts consider evaluations a good measurement for determining the training program’s success.

Key Takeaways

The art of caregiving requires continuous training programs due to the ever-changing needs in the industry. Home care software provider like CareSmartz360 vouch for these training programs as they are extremely beneficial for both the client’s well-being and caregivers’ skill development.

However, agencies need to understand that training outcomes and methods may not always be the same to attain success. It is important to evaluate the success of each session based on the staff performance post-training. After all, everyone learns differently and the key to success is never linear!