Educating nursing assistants to communicate more effectively with nursing home residents with dementia

This article describes the development and evaluation of a Nursing Assistant Communication Skills Program (NACSP). NACSP was designed to help nursing assistants (NAs) interact more effectively with nursing home residents with moderate and severe dementia. In two skilled-care nursing homes, NAs in fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Gerontologist Vol. 39; no. 5; p. 546
Main Authors McCallion, P, Toseland, R W, Lacey, D, Banks, S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.1999
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Alzheimer Disease - nursing
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Communication
Female
Homes for the Aged
Humans
Inservice Training
Male
Middle Aged
Nurse-Patient Relations
Nursing Assistants - education
Nursing Homes
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Summary:This article describes the development and evaluation of a Nursing Assistant Communication Skills Program (NACSP). NACSP was designed to help nursing assistants (NAs) interact more effectively with nursing home residents with moderate and severe dementia. In two skilled-care nursing homes, NAs in four units were randomly assigned by unit to NACSP or to a wait-list control condition (UC) and were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. NACSP resulted in improvement in the well-being of nursing home residents being cared for by NAs who had received the NACSP training. It was also found that NACSP resulted in greater knowledge of caregiving responses and reduced turnover rates among NAs, but the program had no impact on their knowledge of dementia. To disseminate the NACSP program, a leader manual, an accompanying training videotape, and a workbook for participants were developed.
ISSN:0016-9013
DOI:10.1093/geront/39.5.546