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RK: So can you tell me what sort of training does a caregiver have?
Cindy Brown: Our caregivers receive training in everything from safety to how to recognize when someone’s in trouble and when they need to call 911 as well as specific hospice training, how to help their clients through the physiological and psychological changes of the hospice program. We are also doing a very specific 14-hour dementia training class that our caregivers are participating in and then we do an ongoing training throughout the year.
David Romero: [Crosstalk] because as you can imagine so many situations are unique, we have a lot of clients with — are unique, so we have to be able to do training on site and do have that training for that caregivers so that they — one on one, so that they understand what to do with that particular client. We actually have a training center here in Albuquerque that the caregiver can come in and we have a full bathroom that we have installed for them to be able to train how to give somebody a shower. It has a bedroom there with a bed and they’re able to replicate different situations here so they can do have that training before going out to a client’s home:
RK: Yeah. Yeah, that’s great. Now, so they’ve gone through the process, they got the training and you said you personally connect a senior with whatever caregiver they feel most comfortable with or they feel that would best serve them?
Cindy Brown: Part of that has to do with how we do our matching because we actually match our clients and caregivers and that’s because we do an extensive home visit before service even starts. That gives us the opportunity to talk with the clients and even their family members about what their priorities are what their concerns and their anxieties maybe about who is in their home, who they’re most comfortable with, all the way down to what kind of personality that they’re looking for.
Some people want someone who’s super laid back and other folks want someone who’s well the kind of jolt them awake in the morning and start their day with a bang. So it’s opportune that we uncover all of those personal preferences and idiosyncrasies to make sure that the caregiver is well matched with the client.
