Stanford Direct Care Worker Longevity, HEalthspan Aging, Dementia, and End-of-life CaRe (LEADER) Program was launched in 2016 by Prof. VJ Periyakoil to promote health equity for the most vulnerable and underserved populations of patients and families. This is a non-degree professional training initiative to train allied health professionals to provide culturally- respectful care for our patients and families.
We seek to provide direct care workers the opportunity to receive the key knowledge and skills to provide the best possible care to the patients they serve.
Why does the Stanford SAGE Lab train direct care workers and other allied health professionals?
More Americans are living with chronic illnesses. According to the CDC, chronic illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes, or arthritis are increasingly common, affecting 6 in 10 adult Americans. Research has established that most Americans prefer to live in the convenience of their homes and in the communities they love as long as they possibly can. The care provided by doctors and nurses is largely limited to healthcare venues.
Personal care aides, home health aides, certified nurse assistants, community health workers, and promotores are known as direct care workers. They are paid professionals who provide hands-on, daily assistance to older adults and persons with disabilities. Direct care workers work in various settings, ranging from private homes, community or group home environments, with the primary goal of optimizing their clients’ quality of life. Their unwavering commitment revolves around supporting individuals to stay within their familiar homes or communities for as long as possible, offering essential care and invaluable support. Training direct care workers is critically important in ensuring high-quality care for patients in the community. Recognizing this, we have been working with diverse communities to provide (non-degree) training in longevity and healthy aging to direct care workers in English and Spanish.
What is the Stanford Direct Care Worker Longevity, HEalthy Aging, Dementia, and End-of-life CaRe (LEADER) Program
The Stanford Direct Care LEADER training program offers the training in person, virtual, or hybrid formats. It is a 50-hour program for students to learn and acquire skills over 12 weeks.
The LEADER training program consists of four parts:
- Didactic learning about longevity, aging, dementia, and end-of-life issues.
- Skill acquisition to do a basic assessment of older adults.
- Mentored field project to advance the care of diverse older adults in the community.
- Ongoing learning and mentoring to advance their knowledge and to be able to participate in professional advancement opportunities.
Who funds this training of direct care workers?
The Periyakoil lab (SAGE Lab) work has been funded by HHS/HRSA and NIH. We currently (Jan 2023-August 2024) have funding through a grant from the State of California.
