UAMS Opens Schmieding Caregiver Training Facility in Hot Springs

By Ben Boulden

UAMS program specialist Tamara Gordon and UAMS physician Tamara Perry, M.D., check out one of the bedrooms used for training home care givers through the Hot Springs Schmieding program.

Gordon, left, Perry, Gary McHenry, Wei and
Linda Wiley visit a model kitchen used to train home caregivers.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging on Aug. 2 celebrated the opening of the Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program in Hot Springs, providing new opportunities for the elderly to stay in their homes as they age.

 

“We are excited to be part of a program that is so important to Arkansas,” said Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., executive director of the Institute on Aging and chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine. “Elder care touches everyone, and it will become more critical as our baby boomers grow older and as an increasing number of aging adults opt for living at home rather than a long-term care facility.”

 

Developed at the UAMS Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale, the caregiver training program offers four levels of certification for paid caregivers and two workshops for those who provide care to their family members.

 

A $3,015,565 grant in 2009 from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to the Arkansas Aging Initiative of UAMS enabled the initial replication of the Schmieding program. In 2010-11, sites were established in Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Texarkana and West Memphis.

 

In 2012 the Reynolds Foundation gave UAMS a phase II grant of $7.7 million to continue the initial programs and to add sites in Fort Smith, Little Rock, Hot Springs and El Dorado.  The Fort Smith program opened in 2013 and the Little Rock program in April. The El Dorado program will open Sept. 30.  

 

Those attending the ribbon cutting and grand opening included Wei; Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N., associate director of the Institute on Aging and director of the Arkansas Aging Initiative, which oversees nine Centers on Aging across Arkansas; Robin E. McAtee, Ph.D., R.N., the principal investigator for the Reynolds Foundation grant; Rani Snyder, Reynolds Foundation program director for health care programs; Craig Willis, Reynolds Foundation senior program officer; and Darrell Meyer, chairman of the Oaklawn Foundation.

 

The Schmieding Home Caregiver Training Program was inspired by Lawrence H. Schmieding, who had struggled to find competent, compassionate home care for a brother with dementia. In 1998, the Schmieding Foundation donated $15 million to UAMS to establish and construct the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale.

 

Working in partnership with the Arkansas Aging Initiative, a program of the UAMS Institute on Aging, the center developed a unique, high-quality caregiver training program specifically for older adults living in their homes.

 

The Hot Springs program is located at 101 McGowan Court. The center contains a classroom and a learning laboratory that simulates a home environment. To learn more about the Schmieding program in Hot Springs, visit www.arcaregiving.org or call (501) 276-0945 or (877) 762-0015.

 

The expansion of the Schmieding program is occurring at a critical time for Arkansas, which ranks 10th nationally in the percentage of people older than 60.

 

“Given the growing caregiving needs of our older adult population, this is an opportune time to replicate a proven caregiving educational program to help address these needs,” McAtee said.

 

The expansion of the Schmieding program is being built on a solid foundation established by the UAMS Institute on Aging and the Arkansas Aging Initiative, Beverly said.

“We now have the infrastructure to help ensure a successful expansion,” Beverly said. “The Arkansas Aging Initiative provides unparalleled access to rural older adults and local health care and community networks.”

 

The UAMS Schmieding Center in Springdale has trained hundreds of home care workers and has been recognized outside of Arkansas. The Schmieding training method, which may be unique in the United States, has garnered visits to Springdale from representatives of the International Longevity Center and leaders in the fields of aging.

 

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it was named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, it has committed more than $245 million to improving the lives of elderly people throughout the United States.