Navigating Care-Worker Curriculum Evolution in Long-Term Care Settings: Mapping Paths for Enhanced Care Competency
Jihyun Park, Mira Sung
This study aims to comprehensively investigate and analyze the process of revising the care-worker curriculum in South Korea, with a primary focus on enhancing practical competencies. The research involved analyzing the existing 240-hour curriculum, supplemented by a comprehensive literature review. Additionally, Focus Group Interviews were conducted with a cohort of 64 current care workers to effectively identify prevailing needs within the practice field. This study extended the curriculum duration from 240 to 320 hours. Subsequently, pilot courses were implemented, integrating enhanced content related to dementia care, humanity in caregiving, and infectious disease management. These modifications were delivered via webinars to 57 active care workers, chosen due to the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study utilized a pre-post design to assess the perceptions of older adults and their job skills. Forty-eight female care workers (84.2%) and nine male care workers (15.8%) participated in the study. Several areas showed statistical significance: understanding and managing depression and anxiety (-1.421**), supporting leisure activities (-3.248**), implementing abuse prevention behaviors (-2.958**), creating a safe environment (-2.038**), assisting with mobility (-2.559*), aiding in illness management (-2.402*), transferring responsibilities (-2.497*), reporting cases (-2.559*), and overseeing caregiver health and safety (-2.402*). Conclusion: Based on our findings, we have devised a plan to incorporate the following content within the additional 80 hours. In a broader context, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on caregiver education and training in South Korea.
Keywords: Care worker education, Curriculum revision, Long-term care policy
