# CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONAL ALZHEIMER DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS

> **NIH NIH R44** · PROACTIVE MEMORY SERVICES, INC. · 2024 · $1,203,762

## Abstract

CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONAL ALZHEIMER DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS
 Project Summary/Abstract - ProActive Memory Services, Inc.
New strategies are urgently needed to improve Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/RD) training
for 4.6 million professional direct care providers that assist 8.3 million older adults in the US. Assisted living
facilities (ALF) and personal care agencies (PCA) are the largest and fastest growing segments of the long-
term care industry, but where there also are concerns about minimal practice standards, training, and
oversight. Current training options lack customization and flexibility to address the diverse backgrounds of
providers and their individual learning styles. Inadequate training causes undue stress, a lack of empathy, work
dissatisfaction, job turnover and higher training costs. ProActive Memory Services, Inc. will test a revolutionary
new strategy that transforms occasional, episodic AD/RD training to continuously accessible training using
mobile software. We hypothesize that advantages of individually customized training, increased on-job support
and supervision, and efficient documentation will lead to adoption of this new approach. In Phase I we will
evaluate training needs and preferences in semi-structured interviews, focus groups and surveys with 10 direct
care providers and administrators in 4 ALF and PCA organizations to guide the development of prototype
professional training software based on our commercial mobile software for family caregivers,
MemoryCarePartner©. Modifications of our software platform will consistently direct learners to pre-
programmed training pathways, individually tailored to role, level of training, care setting, state and
organization and allow personal tracking of training progress. Learners can explore text and audiovisual
content to fit individual learning styles. The flexible format adapts to diverse learner abilities and irregular work
schedules. In Phase II we will evaluate educational outcomes and sustained engagement when using our
prototype training software through server data, user and administrator online feedback, focus groups and
interviews. Our findings in four successive groups of 10 direct care trainees will be used to develop iterative
code sprints to modify our training software and optimize observed user experience and educational
achievement. Maximizing value also will be achieved through improved documentation of regulatory training
requirements and the likelihood of organization adoption and commercial potential of this new training strategy.
Our ultimate goal is to use our proactive and preventative focus to facilitate evidence-based collaborative and
person-centered care to thus improve the quality of professional direct care for the growing number of
Americans facing AD/RD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10899632
- **Project number:** 5R44AG076093-03
- **Recipient organization:** PROACTIVE MEMORY SERVICES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** NORMAN LOUIS FOSTER
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,203,762
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-08-15 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10899632

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10899632, CUSTOMIZABLE TRAINING SOFTWARE FOR PROFESSIONAL ALZHEIMER DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS (5R44AG076093-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10899632. Licensed CC0.

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