When families hire caregivers for aging parents, they rarely ask about training hours. They should.
Most home care companies provide caregivers with 5 hours of training before sending them into clients’ homes and additional 5 hours over the first year of employment. Dr. Greg Sanchez, who operates Home Instead franchises in Pasadena and Monrovia, requires 40 hours—and he can prove why it matters.
During a decade serving more than 1,400 seniors across the San Gabriel Valley, Sanchez identified the scenarios that put families’ loved ones at risk: caregivers who claimed experience but couldn’t safely transfer a senior from bed to chair, who lacked proper incontinence care training, or who didn’t know how to engage clients with dementia.
“We couldn’t get past just going ahead with a simple quiz,” Sanchez said. “We had to validate with actual in-person assessments.”
That validation protocol—requiring caregivers to demonstrate competency with mannequins before working with actual clients—became the foundation of Sanchez’s S.T.R.I.V.E. program, which he developed over five years.
The results matter for families facing difficult decisions about their parents’ care: Sanchez’s operation documented an 8 to 109.2 percent decrease in caregiver turnover among those trained through the program. Lower turnover means fewer disruptions for seniors who depend on familiar faces and established routines.
Training That Addresses What Families Fear Most
Sanchez holds a PhD in chemistry and entered caregiving after supporting his grandparents. “The scientific method really has been ingrained in my life experience as a PhD chemist,” he said. He applies that systematic approach to caregiver training, focusing on the four areas where inadequate preparation creates the greatest risk: safe transfers, Alzheimer’s and dementia care including redirection techniques, incontinence care and meaningful engagement.
New hires at Sanchez’s operations receive approximately 24 hours of in-class training with hands-on demonstrations, followed by job shadowing with peer mentors for eight to 16 hours. Caregivers learning transfers must walk instructors through the steps, then demonstrate competency with mannequins before moving to in-field validation with clients.
“You have to keep a caregiver for at least 90 days,” Sanchez said. “Once you get them past 90 days, turnover drops significantly.” His training model targets that critical 90-day window when most caregivers leave—and when families face the stress of starting over with someone new.
Equipment and Expertise Other Agencies Don’t Have
Through a CalGrows Innovation Grant, Sanchez equipped his operations with multiple types of lift and fall mitigation equipment. He said no other home care company in the area has the fall equipment his operation purchased.
During the 14-month grant period, his operation delivered an additional 3,000 hours of training, certified 85 caregivers in Red Cross First Aid and CPR/AED, trained 30 caregivers as peer mentors, and upskilled 86 caregivers through on-site training modules that assess caregiver competency with clients present.
The program consists of five levels, each with a different core curriculum that ties continued education to wage advancement. Caregivers take classes, complete skills assessments and move to the next level if successful—meaning families benefit from caregivers who continue developing their skills throughout their employment.
What This Means for Your Family
When case managers at Sanchez’s operations notice client decline, they work with a training coordinator to deploy appropriate training immediately. The training coordinator schedules courses at key intervals: during initial onboarding, at three months, at six months and at one year.
We observed that routine mentoring at key intervals enabled our team to proactively plug caregivers into the appropriate training at the right time, which measurably decreased turnover,” Sanchez said.
For families, that translates to caregivers who stay longer, know more, and receive ongoing supervision from case managers who monitor both caregiver performance and client needs.
Sanchez noted that not every California resident can afford agency-level care. Families seeking training resources for independent caregivers can access them through the California Department of Aging. You can search the department website for caregiver trainings. There you will find various videos on all types of topics, all courtesy of the CalGrows grant,” he said.
But for families who want the assurance that their parent’s caregiver has been properly trained, assessed and continuously supported, Sanchez’s model demonstrates what comprehensive caregiver preparation looks like—and why it produces measurably better outcomes.
“It was definitely worth the money we received from the State,” Sanchez said.
For information call Dr. Sanchez at Home Instead, (626) 486-0800.
