Increasing Care Partners’ Capacity for Supporting Individuals Living with Dementia Through Bravo Zulu: Achieving Excellence in Relationship-Centered Dementia Care

The need for person- and relationship-centered care (PCC/RCC) in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is well established. Recognizing the limitations of PCC in fully honoring the intricate interdependencies between care partners and persons living with dementia, a new training program called Bravo Zulu was developed. This comprehensive, 12-hour dementia training program aims to enhance personhood beliefs and self-efficacy among care partners, improving the experience of care and support for both people living with dementia and their care partners. Responses from 182 participants who completed the training were analyzed using paired t-tests to assess changes in personhood beliefs and self-efficacy. The Bravo Zulu training produced significant increases in both personhood beliefs and self-efficacy. Notably, healthcare professionals without prior care partner training exhibited the greatest gains in personhood beliefs, while participants who were not direct care partners showed substantial improvements in self-efficacy. Overall, these findings support the concept of tailoring dementia education to ensure care partners and healthcare professionals are able to provide culturally competent care that is aligned with the diverse backgrounds of people living with dementia. Expanding access to high-quality interactive programs such as Bravo Zulu can contribute to strengthening the dementia care workforce and improving care experiences for all involved.