Better Care for Complex, Challenging Clients: Hawaii's Training Program to Improve Residential Long-Term Care

The Kupuna Adult Care Home Project is an innovative training program designed to improve the skills of care home and adult foster home operators in Hawaii. Clients in residential settings are increasingly likely to have complex problems. The project developed nine modules on topics such as dementia care, diabetes, and fall prevention based on stakeholder input and a national scan of best practices. A total of 787 persons were trained. An evaluation indicated that training significantly improved knowledge and that trainees were highly satisfied with the training. A secondary State of the Industry survey indicated that many care home and adult foster home caregivers are aging themselves and their children may not take over the family business. By combining practical knowledge and active learning strategies to work through real-life scenarios, the Kupuna Adult Care Home project is a promising training model.