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Last month, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill into law that in-home care providers who treat Alzheimer’s patients around the country should have their eye on.
The bill requires home health aides in Indiana to have minimum dementia training standards, in hopes that patients who suffer from the complicated disease will receive more quality care.
Currently, only 13 states have specific requirements for dementia training for home health aides. But Home Care Association of America (HCAOA) CEO Vicki Hoak said this kind of legislation should have a ripple effect for other states.
“[Dementia and Alzheimer’s patients] are the people that so often have to go into a congregate setting, and they really don’t need it,” Hoak told Home Health Care News. “They do need someone there, someone that understands [this disease], and someone who knows how to help them. I absolutely see [more required training] coming.”
Nationally, there are more than 5 million people age 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s — a number that is estimated to grow by roughly 14 million by 2025, according to statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association.
In normal circumstances, dementia care is about exercising individuals’ brain power with new activities and daily tasks. A typical pillar of dementia care programs is also creating tailored approaches to care for each and every client.
When in-home care providers don’t invest in professional dementia training, negative outcomes are likely. Research shows that a lack of proper dementia training can lead to a more challenging situation for the worker, the client and the family, according to home care research and education firm Home Care Pulse.
Legislation like the kind in Indiana means that dementia patients will get better care in the Hoosier state. It’s also a sign that more states are coming around to the idea that specialty training is important for home health aides. Similar requirements could open the door for business opportunities for in-home care providers.
Dementia training was the top specialty training service provided in 2021, according to data compiled by Home Care Pulse, which shared a preview of its annual Home Care Benchmarking Study during a virtual conference earlier this year.
Hoak believes this trend will continue.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of specialty care lines of business coming up,” Hoak said. “Because that’s what people are going to ask for.”
Hoak believes the expected expansion of these training requirements will spur growth for the in-home care industry.
Dementia training in action
Home care franchise giant Seniors Helpers has required special dementia training for its employees since 2009. Co-founder and CEO Peter Ross encourages other providers to do the same.
What Senior Helpers did more than a decade ago is create a disease management and chronic care management program. One of the first ones was its “Senior Gems” program, which had a customized dementia and Alzheimer’s training program for employees.
“We wanted to make sure our caregivers are trained because most seniors that we take care of have at least one or two chronic illnesses,” Ross told HHCN. “Dementia is a very challenging disease for families and for family caregivers, as well as our caregivers.”
In order for Senior Helpers to call itself a company with dementia care specialists — which Ross certainly does — it had to invest in training.
“That’s the key,” Ross said. “A caregiver that has the training can make a bigger difference to the family and the family’s loved ones. That’s really most important for us. We really want to celebrate life. We really want to make sure that the family has a great opportunity to live independently in their home as long as they possibly can.”
Most of the dementia training conducted by Senior Helpers involves giving caregivers the tools on how to help patients with everyday living.
“Our goal is to make the client more comfortable with us,” he said. “That’s really what we try to do. Our dementia care training is the delivery of care.”
From a financial standpoint, however, offering and requiring training adds to an agency’s overhead cost. Hoak said this is obviously something to consider.
“Any kind of additional training is wonderful,” she said. “We also have to balance that out and ask ourselves, ‘What’s that going to do to our overhead costs, right?’”
Ross understands that reality as well, but chooses to look at it from a different angle. If training creates a better quality of care, that’s good for business.
“We keep our clients in their homes longer, which is revenue for us,” Ross said. “No. 2, more importantly, we’re a people business. For years, this industry [has prioritized] clients. We’ve flipped that script. If you invest in your people, they will stay with you longer because you’re going out of your way to make them feel like a part of a team and giving them the skills in order for them to provide great care.”
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