Caregiver Trainings at CaringKind

By Amy Torres,
Director of Training


CaringKind’s training programs foster a non-judgmental environment, where caregivers have the opportunity to discuss the most pressing concerns they are facing supporting a person with dementia. Throughout the program our trainers model best dementia care practices, providing hands on techniques so caregivers can care with confidence.

Family members, friends and professional caregivers who regularly interact with a person diagnosed with dementia understand how complex and multifaceted the condition can be. Caregivers may be at a loss in how to best communicate and interact with that person to preserve the existing relationship or create new connections. CaringKind’s training programs seek to highlight the importance of preserving the person with dementias “personhood” and help caregivers develop and understand the world through the lens of somebody with dementia.

CaringKind’s training department offers two models of training. Our Family Caregiver Workshop, a 10-hour training program is designed to provide family members and friends who are actively involved with the care of a person with dementia. This workshop provides the information, tools, and skills necessary for the caregiver to manage their own needs while at the same time supporting the person with the illness. The workshop meets once a week for four weeks, two and a half hours per session.

Each session covers a key component to good dementia care, topics include: Understanding Dementia, Enhancing Communication, Managing Challenging Behaviors, and Self Care. Each session builds on the next, so that participants can have the opportunity to tackle the issues around the disease that most affect them. Participants are encouraged to share and learn from each other, while simultaneously providing the emotional support necessary to meet the challenges of caring for someone with dementia. Family Caregiver Workshop participants are invited back quarterly for follow up sessions with the goal of reconnecting with fellow caregivers, brushing up on topics and receiving the most up- to- date information about dementia care.

Dementia Care Training for Professional Caregivers is one of our most successful and sought-after programs. The training program for direct care workers — home health aides, home attendants, certified nursing assistants and others — is a 45-hour commitment and meets for one full day a week for six weeks with a graduation ceremony and celebration in week seven. This training stresses the importance of building skill and understanding dementia from an emotional point of view as well as from a practical one. The goal is to ensure that persons with dementia receive the highest quality of care possible. Graduates are invited back for quarterly follow-up sessions where lessons are reinforced and successes and challenges are explored. Graduates are also eligible to participate in CaringKind’s web-based employment resource, TogetherWeCare.com, which matches families with trained professional caregivers who have completed our training program.

For more information on any of these programs, please call 646-744-2900.

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