A pilot program in California that taught in-home caregivers to perform CPR, first aid, how to administer medication and the basics of infection control resulted in a reduction in emergency department visits and hospitalizations, according to a Kaiser Health News report.
The program trained roughly 6,000 aides with the In-Home Supportive Services program, who are paid by California to care for seniors and people with disabilities. Often, they are family members of the patient. In addition to CPR and first aid, they learned how to read a medication bottle and what a diabetic patient should be eating. Training included 60 hours of in-class instruction and 13 hours of work at home.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco compared insurance claims for 136 people whose caregivers went through the training to claims from 2,000 similar patients whose caregivers were not trained. They found a decrease in ED visits and hospitalizations.
"Training shows a lot of promise," said Bob Newcomer, PhD, a professor emeritus at UCSF who was part of the research team.
The pilot program was made possible by an $11.8 million grant from CMS, and training was conducted by the California Long-Term Care Education Center.