Will Delivering Alzheimer's Disease Education to Paid Caregivers Help Reduce Caregiver Burnout?

Abstract

Problem Statement: The Resident Care Assistant (RCA) staff, who care for residents with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) on the memory support floor of the Hi’olani Care Center at Kahala Nui, are provided with only minimal education on Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). This lack of education in AD may lead to burnout amongst professional caregivers. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to provide education on AD patient care to the RCA staff to increase self-efficacy and help decrease caregiver burnout. Additionally, the RCA staff will complete the 3 Good Things (3GT) program to decrease caregiver burnout. Methods: This quality improvement project conducted in conjunction with the Hi’olani Care Center at Kahala Nui was comprised of three steps: two focus groups, the delivery of four learning modules created by the DNP candidate, and the 3GT intervention with the goal of decreasing burnout amongst caregivers of residents with AD. Self-efficacy was measured utilizing the Learning Modules Survey (LMS) and caregiver burnout was measured utilizing the Burnout Self-Test (BST). Results: Scores from the LMS were pooled and analyzed. A mean score of 33.56 indicates that most of the RCAs gained knowledge after reviewing the learning modules. 100% of the participants showed a decrease in BST scores post-intervention. Further, 33% of the RCAs (3) showed a decrease in burnout from being at risk for burnout to displaying little signs of burnout. Discussion: The purpose of this project was to help decrease burnout experienced by unlicensed RCA staff who care for residents with AD at Kahala Nui Retirement Community. This purpose was accomplished by achieving the following goals: 1) educating and empowering the RCA staff with learning modules to increase their self-efficacy 2) completing the 3GT program.