African-American Lay Pastoral Care Facilitators’ Perspectives on Dementia Caregiver Education and Training

Abstract

The African-American Alzheimer’s Caregiver Training and Support Project 2 (ACTS 2) is a faith-integrated, skills-training and support program for distressed African American family caregivers of persons living with dementia across Florida. Caregivers participate in a 12-week, telephone-based, skills-building and support program led by faith community workers (i.e., lay pastoral care facilitators) who provide volunteer services to their denominations. In this case study, we examined facilitators’ perspectives and recommendations for supplementary audiovisual and written training materials to optimize group process and goal-setting skills. Utilizing a qualitative approach, we explored facilitators’ needs, experiences in using current training materials, and recommendations for supplementary education. Data were collected through a telephone-based, focus group interview with nine ACTS 2 facilitators deploying grounded theory techniques. We identified six themes: personal reflections on facilitator roles and responsibilities, satisfaction with existing written materials, desire for supplementary audiovisual training materials, desire for additional training on data management and reporting, importance of peer support, and fostering a faith-integrated culture within the program. Our findings underscore the importance of engaging African American faith communities in fostering dementia caregiving skills training and support. We further highlight the implications of providing community-based training for African American facilitators to foster caregiver emotional well-being and physical health.