Parkland College has been awarded $20,000 that will go to funding caregiver training programs. The community college is one of fifteen from all over the country chosen to receive the grant by the Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a joint venture between the International Longevity Center and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education.

“The departments at Parkland that are cooperating on this grant initiative are the Health Professions department, the Community Education department, and the Business Training Center,” said Bobbi Scholze, department chair of Health Professions.

The heads of the three departments worked jointly to put together the grant application and the money will be divided between three programs, which will provide for various programs relating to caregiver training.

Two programs will conduct classes on the Parkland campus which will focus on the educational needs of professional health care workers who work in home care.

“Business Training is providing professional development workshops for CNAs (Certified Nurses Assistants) and nurses,” said Triss Henderson, director of the Business Training Center. “In addition, we will offer a 15-hour bridge program for CNAs seeking Home Care Aide National Certification through Homecare University in Spring 2010.”

Health care workers are required to fulfill a certain amount of continuing education units every year, Scholze said. With the help of the grant, Parkland will be able to provide continuing education classes for lower fees.

In addition, Scholze said health care professionals in the community will not have to pay travel costs to take the classes elsewhere. Parkland’s Community Education department, in association with Family Service of Champaign County, will offer classes for the general public.

The program, which begins in November, will focus on recruiting leaders who are interested in bringing the knowledge they gain from the training sessions to their communities. Right now, the focus is on finding potential leaders outside of the Urbana-Champaign region.

“The class in November is going to be in Monticello. We’ve been working with the Faith in Action program there to reach some of the people that might be interested. Our goal is to reach people in the non-Champaign-Urbana area because we haven’t focused on that group yet,” said Rosanna McLain, director of the Senior Resource Center at Family Service. “People from Champaign-Urbana are certainly welcome, but we’re targeting more people from outside that area. The leaders are then expected to conduct classes in their own communities. These will focus on improving the quality of life for those who suffer from chronic illnesses as well as their families.

“Mostly, the people taking the class are going to be just people in the community who have anything from high blood pressure to cancer to Parkinson’s to diabetes, arthritis, anything that can interfere with a person’s health on a long-term basis,” McLain said. “Sometimes, if you are married to someone with a chronic condition such as fibromyalgia or you have a loved one with a condition such as diabetes, it’s worthwhile to take the class.”