DIRECT CARE STAFF TRAINING STANDARDS AND EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS IN LONG-TERM CARE - Direct Care Staff Training Standards and Educational Interventions in Long-Term Care

Sep 29, 2026

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Direct care staff training for personal care aides, nursing assistants, and student nurses is essential for high-quality long-term care and a stable workforce. Quality training supports optimum care and coordination for residents with dementia, mental illness, and physical or cognitive impairments, and favorable perceptions link training attributes with better dementia views, job satisfaction, and resident health outcomes. Current evaluations of standards and available educational interventions remain limited. This symposium addresses post-pandemic workforce development through training consistency, rigor, portability, and opportunities such as microlearning and digital literacy, highlighting gaps and translation strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Session (Symposium)

Direct Care Staff Training Standards and Educational Interventions in Long-Term Care

Evaluating Outcomes of Communication Education for Linguistically Diverse Nursing Home Staff

Innovative Education to Career Pipelines in Long-Term Care: The Scholars With A.G. Rhodes Program

228 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 SESSION 2225 (SYMPOSIUM) Abstract citation ID: igaf122.762 DIRECT CARE STAFF TRAINING STANDARDS AND EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS IN LONG-TERM CARE Chair: Katherine Kennedy Discussant: Carissa Coleman The training of direct care staff including personal care aides (PCAs), nursing assistants (NAs), and student nurses is critically important to delivery of high-quality care and a more stable long-term care workforce. Relevant quality training is key to ensuring optimum care and coordination for patient populations facing a spectrum of needs, such as those with dementia, mental illness, and other physical and cognitive impairments. Positive perceptions of training quality and attributes (e.g., greater hours, clinical training, facilitator, length, modality, content, impact on interprofessional practice) are associated with more positive perceptions of dementia, improved job satisfaction, and better nursing home resident health outcomes. While training contributes to job quality, current evaluations of training standards, actual training opportunities, and educational interventions or programs have been lacking in the field. A primary focus of this symposium is to describe the importance of workforce development in the post-pandemic world from a macro-policy lens focused on training consistency, rigor, and portability, to a micro-level focus on areas of opportunity for developing and implementing training (e.g., increasing job relevant training, enhancing digital literacy, microlearning) . Presentations will highlight current information about training standards for PCAs, on-the-job training of nursing home staff (primarily NAs), and an innovative research-practice partnership to build a pipeline for student nurses into nursing home careers. Through examinations of training standards, training opportunities, and intervention/program delivery, we gain knowledge about potential practice gaps such as important knowledge to mitigate care challenges, knowledge translation strategies, and opportunities for program and policy development. Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 229 NA-tailored, standardized training in various topics (i.e., mental health, dementia, end-of-life, nursing) and more continuing education; synergizing NA and nurse educator/CRN relationships and directly communicating with NAs about training opportunities; and modifications needed to address barriers related to time, staffing, computer access and learning preferences. This study confirms the importance of training to NA job satisfaction in VHA CLCs. Ways to improve training and access to training (e.g., microlearning) may improve job satisfaction and retention. Abstract citation ID: igaf122.765 EVALUATING OUTCOMES OF COMMUNICATION EDUCATION FOR LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE NURSING HOME STAFF Maria Roche-Dean1, Maria Hein2, Yelena Perkhounkova2, Carissa Coleman3, Frances Yang4, Clarissa Shaw5, and Kristine Williams6, 1. Kirkhof College of Nursing, Grand rapids, Michigan, United States, 2. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 3. University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 4. University of Kansas, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas, United States, 5. University of Iowa College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 6. University of Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas, United States The ethnic and linguistic diversity of staff working in healthcare has increased, along with the critical role of immigrant workers in meeting workforce demand in long-term service and support settings (LTSS). The focus of this analysis is to compare learning outcomes for nursing home staff who identified a primary language other than English (LOE) to primary English speakers participating in Changing Talk Online Training (CHATO), a pragmatic clinical trial. CHATO is a psychoeducational intervention designed to reduce elderspeak, a form of communication that sounds like b

FAQs

Why is direct care staff training critical in long-term care?

Training is critical because it supports delivery of high-quality care and contributes to a more stable long-term care workforce. Quality training also improves care coordination for residents with diverse needs, including dementia and cognitive impairments.

What outcomes are associated with perceived training quality?

Positive perceptions of training quality attributes (such as clinical training and modality) are associated with more positive perceptions of dementia, improved job satisfaction, and better nursing home resident health outcomes.

What does the symposium aim to cover regarding training after the pandemic?

The symposium focuses on workforce development using a macro-policy lens on training consistency, rigor, and portability, and a micro-level lens on opportunities to develop and implement training, such as increasing job-relevant training and enhancing digital literacy and microlearning.

Sep 29, 2026

Upload by Eliana