Evaluation of the Person-Centered Care Essentials Program: Importance of Trainers in Achieving Targeted Outcomes

Abstract

A person-centered care (PCC) training program was developed and disseminated to 84 institutes for retired religious persons across the United States. The program was delivered via a train-the-trainer model wherein institute trainers attended a 2-day training conference, then taught the material to direct care workers (DCWs) at their respective sites. Evaluation of the training showed that DCWs' attitudes toward and knowledge of PCC improved after training. The relationship between trainers' perception of the ability of their site to implement PCC training and DCW knowledge improvement varied by training module. Training regarding the physical environment resulted in the smallest gains in DCW knowledge.

Keywords:

• aging
• train-the-trainer
• curriculum
• personhood theory
• dementia

Notes

1 Trainer confidence, direct care worker PCC knowledge, and direct care worker PCC attitudes did not vary across types of institutes.

2 Several sites returned data lacking consistent DCW identifiers, therefore we were unable to match knowledge tests across modules, resulting in disproportionately low numbers of DCWs verifiably completing multiple modules.

3 Due to their lack of scalar properties, the PCC Attitude items were not included as additional variables in further hypotheses.

4 t tests were performed for each module using means from participants who completed a pre- and posttest for that module. Ns for each module varied greatly based on variation in site training schedules and in numbers of sites returning correctly coded data for each module.

5 The construct PCC Practice was assessed at pretraining and posttraining, but questions varied across time points and were unable to be analyzed in a valid matched-samples technique.