The program was kicked off in April of 2019 and the followings were completed by the end of 2019:
- Conducted 3 focus group studies
- Conducted a “train the trainers” workshop and trained 6 trainers
- Conducted 2 “Savvy Caregivers Training” of 10 Chinese caregivers of dementia patients
Focus Group Studies
Training of the Savvy Caregiver Trainers
When: 7/17/2019
Where: PMCH Conference Room of UMHS in Ann Arbor
Who attended: Mi Dong, Lisa Hou, Janilla Lee, Fei Sun, Meera Vijan, & Anao Zhang,
Trainer: CCC Personnel and Sally Steiner
All attendees commented that it was a good but intensive training. There was a lot of information and good tips on dementia and how to take care of dementia patients. Most of the people in the training understood the program content afterwards, but was uncomfortable to teach without observing a class taught by more experienced trainers first if possible. It looked like there would be a lot of improvisation involved, those who didn’t have teaching experience before would feel pressured without observing one workshop first. With that concern, Dr. Zhang decided to teach the first workshop since he was experienced in this kind of training.
Savvy Caregivers Training
In conclusion, we had nothing but good feedback for this program. All caregivers had huge grieves taking care of their patients. A support group is necessary, but has to be culturally appropriate to relieve their stress.
The program was unfortunately stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic.