CARES® Dementia Care for Families™: Effects of online, Psychoeducational training on knowledge of person-centered care and satisfaction

Challenges to intervention use among family caregivers of individuals with dementia include availability and timing of delivery. The current study sought to determine whether an online, psychoeducational intervention for dementia family caregivers, CARES® Dementia Care for Families™ (CARES for Families), improved and enhanced dementia caregivers' knowledge of person-centered care approaches. Forty-one family members completed pre and posttest surveys that assessed improvement in dementia care knowledge, and multiple close and open-ended items examined how the CARES for Families online modules benefited users at posttest. A paired t test demonstrated a significant and considerable increase in dementia care knowledge among family caregivers (p > 0.001); caregivers also indicated that CARES for Families' content, flexibility, and use of actual family caregivers and individuals with dementia in video care vignettes were strengths. The findings suggest that CARES for Families can offeran efficient supplement to holistic dementia care that gerontological nurses provide.