Engage with™ Skills Training Programs’ Older Adult Module Receives Grant from NextFifty Initiative for Its Impact in Improving Patient Care for Aging Adults in Long Term Care Facilities.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lutherville, MD—April 8, 2021—Recognizing the notable efforts of the Engage with™ Skills Training Program’s impact on improving care for the aging population, the NextFifty Initiative awarded the Mental Health Association of Maryland grant funding to support the Engage with™ Older Adults Skills Training Program. The funding has been essential in supporting the technology infrastructure needed to be able to effectively deliver their innovative and immersive virtual reality skills training to anyone with a computer or laptop and a stable internet connection. The training is helping equip those who care for and support the aging population with the necessary skills to improve how they care and interact with older adult residents.
The Engage with™ Older Adults Skills Training Program is an innovative instructor-led, immersive virtual skills training that provides long-term care staff, as well as others that care for older adults, a unique and engaging virtual skills training experience. Attendees learn skills to help them navigate some of the most challenging obstacles they experience in their daily engagement with older adults. Through its innovative, evidence-based curriculum, it offers the potential to improve resident care, reduce direct care job stresses, and has proven outcomes that demonstrate a reduction in staff turnover rates for long-term care facilities (LTCFs). The support of the NextFifty Initiative has been essential to the ability to deliver the Engage with Older Adults Skills Training Program to anyone with a computer or laptop and a stable internet connection.
The Engage with™ founder, Stephen B. Goldberg, M.D., Medical Director of the Engage with™ Skills Training Programs, shares, “This grant has been an incredible boost that allowed us to complete the behind-the-scenes tech work needed to make this project a colossal success. From setting up the registration portal to channeling all the training information into an automated database for grading and communication purposes – this grant has had a significant impact on our ability to deliver the training to LTCF care workers caring for and interacting with older adult residents.”
“We are thrilled and honored that our Engage with™ Older Adults training for LTCF staff has received this grant from the NextFifty Initiative,” said Dr. Goldberg. “It’s a tremendous endorsement to have this backing from funders so aligned with our mission.”
With the foundation’s support, Engage with™ Older Adults will be able to expand their reach and work towards building a culture that uplifts, supports, and empathizes with older adults living in LTCFs or aging in place at home.
“Our goal is to transform the way we view and experience aging, and that informs the types of unique ideas and programs we fund,” said Diana McFail, President and CEO of NextFifty Initiative. “We see the Engage with™ Skills Training Programs’ work on aging issues and experiences as an embodiment of our efforts toward more positive and enlightened approaches to aging. We offer our support and congratulations.”
About Engage with™ Skills Training Programs
Designed to be intuitive and highly engaging, the Engage with™ skills training programs are comprised of comprehensive skill-based curricula that are delivered virtually using a cutting-edge gamification approach. The skills-focused training helps caregivers working with the older population overcome key challenges and effectively handle complicated scenarios, making their job more rewarding and fulfilling. It includes subjects such as substance use and medication misuse, behavioral health conditions, neurocognitive disorders, traumatic brain injury (TBI), de-escalation, and suicide risk identification – enabling them to provide the best possible care to the patients.
The Engage with™ Skills Training Programs were developed by the Mental Health Association of Maryland, a not for profit organization with a 106-year legacy advancing innovative solutions to ensure a just, humane and healthy society in which each individual is accorded respect, dignity, and the opportunity to achieve their full potential, free from stigma and prejudice.
To learn more about these interactive programs you can visit their website at www.engagewith.org.
About NextFifty Initiative
NextFifty Initiative, a Colorado-based private foundation, exists with the mission to unlock the otherwise untouched potential of the older communities – creating brighter, prosperous, and more fulfilling futures for the older generations as well as their caregivers. Through an advanced funding approach, NextFifty Initiative aims to support and further all the concepts, developments, and projects that generate a positive generational impact. These movements help build a more constructive, thriving society by enabling the older population to make significant contributions – benefiting generations for years to come.
To learn more about the NextFifty Initiative, you can visit their website at www.next50initiative.org
