As Alzheimer’s and dementia progress, keeping residents from falling becomes increasingly difficult. An effective fall prevention program to keep memory care residents safe is crucial, but it is challenging to develop and requires comprehensive training tailored to individuals and their needs.

Senior housing communities may question the cost and type of impact this type of training can make since residents are often unable to express thanks or support in the process. However, it is certainly worth the investment since a 25% rule is often applied to estimating staff turnover cost in the range of $4,200 to $5,200 per employee, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To fill this void, SafelyYou just launched SafelyYou University to provide free dementia and fall prevention training for senior housing and memory care communities. This is the only educational program that combines fall prevention best practices with the person-centered approach needed to meet the unique needs of memory care residents, who have a limited capacity for new learning.

SafelyYou’s free educational program is unique because it trains the trainer for a community. The trainer is called a Fall Champion, an individual designated to lead fall prevention efforts in their community. The training includes a series of short video-based lessons and accompanying quizzes for each of the following sessions:

• Understanding Dementia and Falls: Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of key forms of dementia and the effect common symptoms have on resident falls. They will learn how to analyze resident behavior and determine effective fall prevention methods.
• Designing a Safe Living Space Within Memory Care: Extrinsic factors within a private room can impact fall risk. SafelyYou identified top environmental considerations and design solutions for Fall Champions to implement within their communities.
• Elevating Your Fall Program: Proper response to a fall event can reduce risks to both residents and staff. In addition, a detailed understanding of fall analysis and the process for extracting meaningful information regarding resident patterns, behaviors and fall risk factors is necessary for team collaboration during staff huddle meetings and community fall reduction.

After completing the sessions, certified Fall Champions will have access to an In-Service Training Toolkit designed to help teach the fall prevention concepts, techniques, principles and tools they learned. Each module includes a 15-minute video, so care staff can see a hands-on demonstration for various techniques needed to safely care for residents on a daily basis. This short, modular type of online training engages staff and reinforces critical techniques. It also is very flexible, so busy care staff can complete the training from any location at a convenient time.

And keep in mind that a Fall Champion is developing and training future Champions, so the entire direct-care staff is focusing on their own career development. In the long term, the care team will feel more invested in their jobs and staff turnover will decrease.

To learn more about empowering and training direct care staff, download the whitepaper, “Reduce Costly Staff Turnover and Increase Occupancy Rates with Memory Care Fall Prevention Training.”

Register for Free Fall Prevention Training at SafelyYou University

To register for the free training courses, visit the SafelyYou University website, where you will find comprehensive information about the coursework and the industry experts who developed the training.

For more information, contact SafelyYou at [email protected].