AgeWise: Home Caregiver Training
By: Liz Hogan
Updated: September 5, 2012
Education is a vital part of caring for an older adult who still lives at home, but finding those resources isn't always easy.
The Schmieding Center for Seniors in Springdale offers a series of courses to train everyone from family members to professional caregivers.
It's called the Schmieding Certified Home Caregiver Training program.
"The history of the program stems from Mr. Schmeiding's need for well-trained, qualified home caregivers that he needed to help him care for his brother who wanted to remain in his home," said Sherry White, project director for the Schmieding Certified Home Caregiver Replication Project.
Lawrence Schmieding's donation got the home caregiver training program started in Northwest Arkansas.
Now, thanks to a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the classes are being
replicated at centers and schools across the state.
"Those four centers are up and running and we're currently training caregivers at those sites," White said.
There are also plans to expand the training to additional sites in Fort Smith, Little Rock, El Dorado and Hot Springs.
The home caregiver program is divided into four courses.
"It increases in skill level difficulties so the more training they have the more prepared they are to care for persons with an increased level of need or an increased level of disability," said White. "One in four older adults is going to be 65 or older when we get to 2025 and so the demand for individuals to work in these roles is really going to be high."
There are scholarships available for the classes and the Schmieding Center offers two workshops that are free to the public.
This way everyone has the chance to learn to care for a loved one.
For more information on the program, click here.
The Schmieding Center for Seniors in Springdale offers a series of courses to train everyone from family members to professional caregivers.
It's called the Schmieding Certified Home Caregiver Training program.
"The history of the program stems from Mr. Schmeiding's need for well-trained, qualified home caregivers that he needed to help him care for his brother who wanted to remain in his home," said Sherry White, project director for the Schmieding Certified Home Caregiver Replication Project.
Lawrence Schmieding's donation got the home caregiver training program started in Northwest Arkansas.
Now, thanks to a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the classes are being
replicated at centers and schools across the state.
"Those four centers are up and running and we're currently training caregivers at those sites," White said.
There are also plans to expand the training to additional sites in Fort Smith, Little Rock, El Dorado and Hot Springs.
The home caregiver program is divided into four courses.
"It increases in skill level difficulties so the more training they have the more prepared they are to care for persons with an increased level of need or an increased level of disability," said White. "One in four older adults is going to be 65 or older when we get to 2025 and so the demand for individuals to work in these roles is really going to be high."
There are scholarships available for the classes and the Schmieding Center offers two workshops that are free to the public.
This way everyone has the chance to learn to care for a loved one.
For more information on the program, click here.
