Caregiver Training

Whole Child combines instruction with on-site coaching, an approach that research has proven to be an effective means of creating long-term improvements in the interaction between caregivers and children. The focus is largely practical, centered on basic techniques that have been shown to have a significant impact on the ability of the caregiver to form a meaningful relationship. For example, trainees learn to practice the central principle of responsive caregiving by taking advantage of daily routines such as diapering, changing, and feeding. Over the course of the program, training is conducted in intervals to ensure caregivers have the opportunity to apply what they have learned and to work through difficult areas with the expertise of Whole Child trainers. As the caregivers begin to understand the importance of the changes being asked of them, they become active partners in the change efforts. For example, in order to implement primary care, significant changes in caregiver work schedules are often necessary. An understanding of the benefits to the children can reduce the resistance of a caregiver who has become accustomed to and prefers working only with infants, and is now being asked, to help implement continuity of care, to remain with the same group of children for five years.

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