Within the framework of Project TA9928/VIE090, from October to November 2023, HelpAge International in Vietnam (HAI) coordinated with Thanh Hoa Provincial Association of the Elderly (AE) and Hoa Binh Provincial AE successfully organized training for Voluntary Caregivers. Attending the training were Voluntary Caregivers, Case Managers, Case Manager Associates, representatives of the AEs at all levels, representatives of Commune Health Stations, representatives of the Labor – Invalids & Social Affairs Sector at the commune level, Commune Women’s Union, etc.
Training courses were held in turn: the first one was in Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa from 17-19 October 2023; the second one was in Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province from 30 October – 1 November 2023. During the training courses, trainers from the HAI provided trainees with basic knowledge and skills about:
- Long-term care concept, case management system, and pilot model;
- Roles and responsibilities of caregivers; rules in taking care of older people (OP); characteristics of a good caregiver;
- Building capacity and skills for caregivers on care, including: how to communicate with frailty OP; skills in taking care of OP: how to measure weight, height, BMI; how to measure blood pressure, temperature, and breathing rate; massage for frailty people; some exercises to prevent falls; how to change clothes for frailty OP; how to move paraplegic OP from bed to chair; personal hygiene and washing hair for OP in bed; nutrition for OP;
- Introducing the reporting-sharing flow and how to share reports with Case Manager Associates and Case Managers;
- Agreeing on the next plans/activities.
To increase participation and attraction to trainees, trainers have flexibly combined many different methods that are suitable in content and accessible to OP such as theory lectures with slideshows, reviewing contents with True and False cards or writing answers on paper, group discussions, on-the-spot practice, small games, breaks with group cultural performance, etc.
The participants were very happy and shared positive feedback during and after the training courses, showing that they were satisfied and wanted to participate in more similar training courses to improve their skills and gain more knowledge. They wish to have more opportunities to participate in useful activities to improve their health and be more active.
