The Journey Out
The Journey Out Podcast is a podcast designed to be the helping hand for everyday people who are on their Exodus Journey!
You were designed for a purpose and many times, just like Moses, we need a burning bush or sign from God that it is time to leave, or journey out, from what we are used to, to be propelled to where we are called to be.
Join us for engaging, informative and resourceful conversation ranging from healthcare to entrepreneurship to family values.
The Journey Out
Conversation w| Pam Brandon: Transforming Dementia Care Through Innovative Training and Support
What happens when personal hardship turns into a powerful mission to change the world of caregiving? Our guest Pam Brandon, CEO and founder of Age-U-Cate Training Institute, shares her deeply personal journey inspired by her parents' battles with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. As a result, Pam has pioneered paths for caregiver education, addressing the urgent need for community collaboration and innovative support systems. We unravel the growing public health challenge of dementia and explore how her experience has positioned her to influence the future of dementia care education, cultivating empathy and skills among both current and budding healthcare professionals.
This episode illuminates the transformative power of empathy and cultural sensitivity in caregiving. Pam discusses the groundbreaking Dementia Live program, offering caregivers a visceral understanding of cognitive decline. By stepping into the world of those with dementia, caregivers gain profound insights, reshaping their approach to providing care and their ability to communicate effectively. We also provide a wealth of resources for caregivers, encouraging you to join us on "The Journey Out" as we strive to empower individuals and families through life's transitions.
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Journey Out podcast, where we were designed to be the helping hand for everyday people who are on their Exodus journey. I am one of your hosts, bree.
Speaker 2:And I'm Antoine.
Speaker 1:And, as you can see, we have a lovely guest in between us here. So we know that November is a month filled with important national holidays, in particular, national Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month. Today, we wanted to invite a very special guest who encountered the complex challenges of caring for her aging parents and is now the CEO and founder of Educate Training Institute that empowers thousands of other caregivers, providing impactful education and compassionate support throughout the vast North Texas region. So let's jump right in. What is home care?
Speaker 3:How do I navigate health care?
Speaker 2:What do I do when I feel down and depressed?
Speaker 3:I'm stressed. Am I enough? What can I do? What is this going to cost?
Speaker 1:So, ms Pam, ms Pam Brandon, owner of Educate Training Institute, so tell us a little bit about your start, how you got started and where did Educate come from?
Speaker 3:Yeah, first of all, thanks for having me. It's great. Pc Home Health are great program partners of ours, so it just makes it even more special to be here. You know, life takes you on journeys you never thought. And at 35 years old I found myself helping my parents. My dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and they were in Chicago.
Speaker 3:I lived here in Texas and started that journey with my two young kids and watching the complexities of their struggles but the whole family struggle that takes place when Alzheimer's enters into a family's world. We went on that path together with my dad for about four years Really difficult. I mean it was a long time ago and you know that you should go on.
Speaker 1:Right, so as if that wasn't enough.
Speaker 3:then, just several months after my dad was diagnosed, my mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Wow, and so we went on that journey together for over nine years. She moved here to Texas and did have dementia with her Parkinson's in the later years. So again I had another opportunity so about 15 years of being a caregiver and had no real space you know, had no medical background, had no real space. You know, had no medical background. But, as I tell people, I had an MBA and on-the-job training.
Speaker 1:There you go, there you go Always. Does that sound right? That sounds right, always yes.
Speaker 3:And you know you learn along the way, making mistakes and picking up the pieces and moving on, and it was a blessing. I would never trade those years. It was a blessing and a life experience for me and my children and my family, and so after that I went on to do caregiver education for families all through North Texas for many years and then and then started creating Dementia Live in about 2012 and we 12, 13. We launched in 2015 and and here we go, here we go that is so cool.
Speaker 1:That is so cool and I love how it's kind of always like that story right, right, where you know you've been just thrust into the position and from there you kind of like I don't want anybody else to go through this, that I went through alone, right, and so I just love how it always comes from that just familial understanding of what the next caregiver is going through, from the heart.
Speaker 2:From the heart, yeah, from growing pains. Right, you've been in this position. I have a loved one that's been in this position. Right, I know how it was for me. How can I help others?
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Right, right. And so with Educate Training Institute, what is you all's mission and goal as you bring this into the community?
Speaker 3:So you know we are on 10 years of Dementia Lives anniversary next year and our mission from the very beginning with Educate was to ignite change, to bring innovative caregiver education to providers. You know, as any business you know sees those changes over the years.
Speaker 3:As any business sees those changes. Over the years we built a model where our program partners are just like you home, health and senior living and community-based organizations and universities and really anybody that needs this kind of training. So never would I have thought that almost 10 years later we're looking at. Two and a half million people have gone through this.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is amazing.
Speaker 3:That is so awesome it just is kind of a testament of how much it's needed. Yes, the growth of dementia, right, and as you both know what we're looking at in the next 10, 20, 30 years is really astounding. We should all be stakeholders right, yes, yes, yes and really getting in this game of how are we going to solve some of the challenges.
Speaker 1:Right, so you said it. We know dementia is rapidly increasing with public health concerns, so what are some of the issues that that we should address as stakeholders in dementia?
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's some big challenges and you know the numbers speak for themselves. I mean, we're looking at numbers that globally and here in the US triple Right. We have not only what about 7 million caregivers here in the US, but 11 million people caring for?
Speaker 1:them.
Speaker 3:So I think you know the public health concern is, you know, just looking at those numbers and then looking at how do we address this at the federal, the state, the local level. Right, you know, and we're all doing, you know, we're all doing what we can, who are already in this space, but how can we move the needle for?
Speaker 1:it.
Speaker 3:Right. So you know, looking at, for instance, dementia-friendly initiatives, I mean they're great going, great guns, but oftentimes siloed. Right, right so we need to be collaborating, stakeholders need to be working together to really push that, because everything really starts at the community level. It does, it does, but opportunity for all of us to see how we can do a better job on really looking at not only upping the game significantly for our professionals, but preparing our students who are going into health care. And definitely you know my heart has always been with the families.
Speaker 3:Right 70% of caregivers are family members.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:And they need education. They need resources, exactly they need support. They often, as you know, you speak to them every day in your business. Yes, yes, and I used to run support groups. Yeah, many, many of them in faith business. Yes, yes, and I used to run support groups, many, many of them in faith communities, and I would always remind people I very rarely saw a caregiver attend a support group that was planning. They were already in the motion.
Speaker 2:They were in the. They were thrown into the fire. That's right.
Speaker 3:They were just inches away from what we call caregiver burnout.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 3:And so we want to try to intervene earlier to try to avoid this, so that they can empower themselves. You know, go on that journey with certainly less stress than I had hopefully and what you see so many others. But that intervention and earlier intervention is really important, right, but that turns into savings in health care dollars.
Speaker 2:There you go, so I agree. So, since you talked about the, I guess, lack of training or in the families, or the lack of resources and also for the health care professionals, to kind of up the bar, what is the critical gaps in dementia training?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have quite a few. One is, I think, culturally sensitive training.
Speaker 2:One is, I think, culturally sensitive training.
Speaker 3:We have to be, you know first, we have to realize that these caregivers that are being paid, if we don't give them the foundational knowledge right from day one, we are doing a huge disservice to them, to their families, to the person they're caring for, and we are risking them leaving that job and not only leaving, you know, your company but, leaving the profession and we need these people in these jobs. Exactly, do you not agree that most of these people would never have applied for these jobs if they didn't have a heart? Exactly, Wow.
Speaker 3:They have a heart to serve.
Speaker 2:To serve? Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3:But, like all of us, for any job we have, we have to have the tools. Yeah, you know, of any job, you have to give them the tools from day one. Yes, and I think we're lacking in that. We're lacking in too many dementia trainings being I use this term and I think you'll understand, you know, check it off the box. Yes, right, yes, I watched this video and boom, you're ready to go To go to the next Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know it takes a lot more than that it does. It does so, you know, just really tightening up. You know I'd love to see our regulations be, you know, tightened up across the board, right, our regulations be, you know, tightened up across the board, right, but that every stakeholder really looks at hey, how am I going to benefit?
Speaker 3:in the people I serve by properly training my team that goes out to help others, and part of that cultural sensitivity is that we live in a diverse world, right? Not all cultures treat the caregiving role the same. Yes, oh yeah, and how they look at I don't want to say treating, but caring for their elders, right, you know, in different settings. We need to prepare our caregivers for that. The other is, I think, the you know, the huge need for just overall awareness.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Just, community-wide awareness is needed. The need for families to be educated with the value that they bring to the table as part of the care team.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So you said something. I like how you say stakeholders right. So you said culturally right Caregivers don't culturally, don't do the same thing in their families. So how do you think we can get past that? I know it's not a one-size-fits-all, but how do you think we can, I guess, penetrate that to help these families get on the same page as far as training and stuff like that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a good question, I mean, and I don't think there's easy answers to it. I think, obviously, being somebody who believes heavily in experiential and learning is having those conversations, having role playing, sitting down with the caregivers after they've had some basic quality foundational training, you move to. Let's talk about this situation that you might encounter when you go into a home.
Speaker 1:You may have this family situation.
Speaker 3:Let's talk about how you might respond if daughter or spouse or other family member you know opposes something you do, or questions or simply doesn't understand. I think that role play is again they're not going to forget that because you're engaging them.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:And you could, you know, simply put up a video. But how much do people we only retain? We?
Speaker 1:Yes, or is long term solution? I think I think I'm talking to two people that already know.
Speaker 3:the answer to that you know it is if you take that route, you pretty much know what the outcome is going to be. Right. If you invest up front, you know what that outcome is going to be.
Speaker 1:So just hearing just your passion for, like you said, the family caregivers, but even for businesses who are sending people out to these families who are needing this assistance, I can definitely hear the heart behind kind of where Dementia Live just came from. So tell me, dementia Live, it's an innovative approach to dementia training, so let's talk about that a little more. What does that look like? What does that process look like?
Speaker 3:look like. Yeah, so Dementia Live is immersive, it's hands-on, it's experiential, it's all those things. You're putting a participant through, an experience of what it might be like to live with cognitive decline. Right, and you've both gone through it, you put your caregivers through it and it's a whole different ballgame if you want to say, when you sit and try to talk to somebody about what dementia looks like, versus let's walk through it. Let's step into their world for a few moments.
Speaker 3:So the concept behind and foundation of Dementia Live is that immersive experience where somebody is really touched. They have that really strong aha moment. And I know your caregivers have had a lot of response on that and they all do, and you go through it and they say, gosh, I had no idea that it was this difficult. Well, what happens to us? When we step in someone's shoes, we build empathy.
Speaker 3:We build a much deeper understanding of what that person is going through on an hour-to-hour, day-to-day basis, and then it's, you know. The other key piece of Dementia Live is that empowerment session where we take those feelings that they have and you know, merge them with the behaviors that that person had in the room that you're able to talk to them, and then you're Right. So let's just start at the basics and cover those core communication skills you know, that are so important.
Speaker 3:Slowing down eye contact those things will immediately prepare a caregiver to go out and do their job. You know they can build from there, but if they skip those basics they're 10 steps behind.
Speaker 2:Right, yes, I went through the training myself, mm-hmm. And going through that training? Yes, stepping into someone's world with dementia, it was different.
Speaker 1:And eye-opening.
Speaker 2:Eye-opening. You have to do it please, but the earphones that was placed on with the heads right, I didn't know it was that much for lack of better words. Things going on yeah, like background background noise, what my loved one or your loved one could possibly be going through to get them distracted from even listening to you and helping them put on their clothes or getting into the shower. So it's, I mean, it was very eye opening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's the same for our caregivers too. When we take them through that process, a lot of them like oh yeah, I've dealt with Alzheimer's dementia patients before. Yeah, I've been doing this 18 years, this is good. And then they actually go through the process and we talk to them in those empowerment sessions and they're like okay, yeah, I thought I knew.
Speaker 2:I thought I knew about Alzheimer's dementia but it's completely different.
Speaker 1:I mean just even the way the dementia lab works. So it, like you said, it has the headphones, we have gloves, we also have like the little shades that go over. The kind of. That kind of emulates what people with Alzheimer's dementia, their vision, how that changes, and so it really is an immersive experience from head to toe in distance has to be done, it's just from head to toe. So did you foresee this when you created this program? Is this what you foresaw when you said, hey, I'm creating Dementia Live?
Speaker 3:Well, to be fair, I mean, some of this was done in bits and pieces years ago in nursing schools, you know they used to put Vaseline on glasses and whatnot. So you know the whole simulation experience was not totally new. My vision with Dementia Live was putting it into a program that was effective for businesses like you, the stakeholders, to bring this on and then take it out. You know, take it out. As you know, our mission is we really believe everyone is being touched by dementia today at some level.
Speaker 3:So did I envision where we are today and even where we are seeing where we're going to go?
Speaker 3:No, but on the other hand, from day one we knew we were doing something right so you know we had feedback and, of course, you know we tested this for a very long time, but we knew from the get-go that people were responding to this with this is great training, and that's what my goal was is what is going to move the needle, what is really going to help someone? Because if you don't have empathy and you don't have compassion and you don't have basic skills, you can't do this job. Whether you are a professional or a family, you've got to have that and the other is I've just always been a proponent of resources and that's where our empowerment tools come in.
Speaker 3:Is resources, education. Where can they go for support groups? Where can they go to get more help?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Keep feeding them. So that's part of what we like to.
Speaker 1:We know is happening as our stakeholders are forming relationships with those people who go through in that empowerment session and it's just super amazing to see and I just thank you for bringing this to the forefront because, again, you, you, it's nothing like walking in someone else's shoes and actually seeing what they go through on a day-to-day basis Uh, and for you to pinpoint that and really bring it to life and now millions of others have been able to experience this and then, on top of that, provide better care to that loved one or that person that's dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia. It's just so pivotal and so.
Speaker 2:So in case if, like you said, being prepared right or not knowing, but just trying to prepare yourself for the future, if I would have went through this training even once we got the diagnosis for my grandmother, it would have been different from the get-go yeah it would have been straight different from the get-go. So I think people being aware of this is now.
Speaker 1:Now, it's awesome, yeah, it's just, it's just, it's just monumental. So I thank you so much for one, starting and just doing it, but also two for coming on here and talking a little bit more about it and just helping us spread the word about all the amazing things that you guys do at Educate, because it's just amazing and it doesn't stop there. Y'all have other programs and things like that too, so tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so Compassionate Touch is our other core program, and have you done the training on that yet?
Speaker 2:I haven't. I don't even think we've got to do it Because listen.
Speaker 1:Dementia Live is running our lives. Okay, we make sure we get that taken care of.
Speaker 3:Yep and we always tell program partners start with Dementia Live, and that's you know don't go on to the next one.
Speaker 2:We're gonna get to it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Compassionate touch. The story of that is quite remarkable as well. I met the creator of compassionate touch 10 plus years ago and she had created this skilled touch program that she was teaching to massage therapists. And I saw it and, of course, already in the dementia world and saw that it was simple skilled touch techniques that required no, it wasn't any licensing required.
Speaker 1:So you know it was no massage.
Speaker 3:So I connected with her. Her name was Ann Catlin, an occupational therapist, and so we brought on Compassionate Touch right after Dementia Live as another solution to person-centered care techniques that any caregiver can learn. Any family member can learn to help their loved one calm, connect. You know, sleep Just really is a beautiful program. I'll be anxious for you to start it and get some feedback.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's important because a lot of people the Alzheimer's sun downing. There are some behavioral aspects to it as well. Sometimes we have some outbursts, sometimes we're just mellow or you know, it just depends and it's different for everybody. So being able to, as a loved one, combat those feelings and those emotions when they come, it's just super important. You're empowered as a caregiver when you do things like that. So I love that. Now, listen, you done fueled my fire for compassion. We're going to hop on that as soon as this is over, but I just love that.
Speaker 2:I love all of that, and so tell me what other things you have going on.
Speaker 3:Well, those are our two cores that are keeping us busy too. We also add in some one hour courses called Reveal Aging. That is added to your program you know of. Dementia Live and Compassionate Touch, just a reinforcement to caregivers. You know of Dementia Live and Compassionate Touch. Just a reinforcement to caregivers. You know micro-learning content. They can take the courses on their phone. You know, in 10-minute blocks.
Speaker 3:As we all know, the world goes fast these days and so we know caregivers are busy, but they may have 10 minutes to stop. So those courses really support the two core courses. And then we have the arts program. And so you know we are looking forward next year to celebrating the 10 years of Dementia Live with just some cool things. We're going to be bringing out Awesome and new packages we're going to add, but we've seen such phenomenal growth with Dementia Live that that's going to continue for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, please, let the people know like Compassionate Touch those 10-minute trainings, let them know where they can access all of that and where they can find out more about Educate Dementia Live, yeah, let them know where they can access all of that and where they can find out more about Educate Dementia Live.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we have a strange name, but it'll. It'll pop up right away on Google, so just educate dot com. It's A-G-E-U-C-A-T-E dot com and and my email is Pam at Educate, and you can always reach out directly to me with questions or, you know, always happy to engage. I'm not one of those that stays away from doing that.
Speaker 3:So I'm very involved in Dementia Friendly Fort Worth as well and have talked to lots and lots of dementia friendlyfriendly initiatives across the country who are trying to get off the ground, and I'm always really happy to share the great success we've had in Fort Worth and kind of mentor others. So that's another reason. If you are part of a dementia-friendly initiative and saying how do I start, when do I get going? Call me. I'd love to talk to you and it's just part of my love of this whole space and my belief that we all can do so much more and we will.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, awesome, awesome. Well, as you can see, you have resources, educations, at your fingertips, so you have everything that you need to kind of take the next step, learn and get the training needed to better serve your community, but also your loved ones that are going through Alzheimer's and dementia. So, ms Pam, I thank you for being with us today. I thank you for all the just invaluable information that you share with us, and so we'll make sure that they have all of the information that you left today so they can gather all of what we talked about today in our bio. So, taking you over to our podcast website, you'll be able to download everything we discussed today, transcribed just for you under the transcript tab.
Speaker 1:Now, if you've enjoyed what you've heard today and would like to hear more, please subscribe and follow us on YouTube at the Journey Out, and as well as follow us on all podcast platforms the Journey Out and as well as follow us on all podcast platforms. On our podcast website, you can support the Journey Out podcast with a monthly donation of your choosing, helping us to continue to provide these episodes every week. Your contribution is more than appreciated and we thank you. And with that, that is a wrap on today's episode of the Journey Out. We pray that the things discussed today have been a helping hand for you and the ones you hold close, positively bringing you out of one season to the next, starting your Exodus journey.
Speaker 2:And hopefully, the things that you learned gave you the knowledge to be a resource to yourself, your family and your community. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, guys. Have a good one in the video.
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