Home › Research › Caregiving
Competency‐based training boosts dementia knowledge and skills in home care workers
Jarmin Christine Yeh, Matthew Beld, Brittney Pond, Melinda T. Neri, Andrea Arnaiz García, Juliana Mata‐Pacheco, Juvenal Mauricio, Moraima Castanenda et al.. Alzheimer s & Dementia, 2025-06-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
The training significantly improved caregivers' dementia knowledge and self-efficacy but did not reduce caregivers' distress and depression, nor decrease care recipients' emergency room visits and hospitalizations. The findings highlight the value of specialized dementia training in enhancing caregiver knowledge and skills, which could be implemented outside California. Clinical implications include bolstering caregiver well-being to improve the quality of their support of care recipients with cognitive impairment. Policy implications include expanding access to training programs and bolstering workforce development initiatives that improve caregiver and care recipient outcomes. HIGHLIGHTS: Multiweek online training improved home care workers' dementia caregiving skills. Home care workers' dementia knowledge improved significantly post-training. Self-efficacy to manage care recipients' dementia symptoms improved significantly.
Key findings
- The training significantly improved caregivers' dementia knowledge and self-efficacy but did not reduce caregivers' distress and depression, nor decrease care recipients' emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
- The findings highlight the value of specialized dementia training in enhancing caregiver knowledge and skills, which could be implemented outside California.
- Clinical implications include bolstering caregiver well-being to improve the quality of their support of care recipients with cognitive impairment.
- Policy implications include expanding access to training programs and bolstering workforce development initiatives that improve caregiver and care recipient outcomes.
- HIGHLIGHTS: Multiweek online training improved home care workers' dementia caregiving skills.
Why it matters
A multiweek online training improved home care workers' dementia knowledge and self-efficacy. However, it did not reduce caregivers' distress and depression or decrease care recipients' emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Caregiving →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer s & Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Alzheimer s & Dementia: journal h-index 228 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 9 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 9 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Suzanna M. Martinez: h-index 27 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, San Francisco: institution h-index 1,915 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40538020) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Yeh, J. C., Beld, M., Pond, B., Neri, M. T., García, A. A., Mata‐Pacheco, J., et al. (2025). Competency‐based training boosts dementia knowledge and skills in home care workers. Alzheimer s & Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70323
Vancouver
Yeh JC, Beld M, Pond B, Neri MT, García AA, Mata‐Pacheco J, et al. Competency‐based training boosts dementia knowledge and skills in home care workers. Alzheimer s & Dementia. 2025. doi:10.1002/alz.70323. PMID: 40538020.
BibTeX
@article{yeh2025-40538020,
author = {Yeh, Jarmin Christine and Beld, Matthew and Pond, Brittney and Neri, Melinda T. and García, Andrea Arnaiz and Mata‐Pacheco, Juliana and Mauricio, Juvenal and Castanenda, Moraima and others},
title = {{Competency‐based training boosts dementia knowledge and skills in home care workers}},
journal = {Alzheimer s \& Dementia},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/alz.70323},
pmid = {40538020},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70323}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Related studies in Caregiving
Also tagged “care”
996 studies in the library carry the topic tag “care”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 996 tagged studies.