Building Core Competencies of Taiwanese Care Food Specialists: Curriculum Design and Outcome Assessment

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Core Competency Training Course for Eating Support Healthcare Aides (20-Hour Course): Core Competency Training Course for Eating Support Healthcare Aides, a 20-hour program designed to enhance knowledge and skills in providing safe and effective feeding support. The course comprised the following modules: 1. Oral Changes and Basic Care Concepts (2 hours) 2. Assisting Clients with Safe Eating (2 hours) 3. Oral Hygiene and Care (3 hours, including practical skills) 4. Dysphagia Diet Standards and Meal Texture Modification (2 hours) 5. Food Storage, Cleaning, and Pre-/Mid-Processing (3 hours) 6. Client Nutrition Knowledge (3 hours) 7. Soft Food Selection and Preparation for Clients with Chewing Difficulties (2 hours) 8. Hands-on Soft Food Preparation and Selection for Clients with Chewing Difficulties (3 hours)

Study summary

Background: As Taiwan faces an aging population, the demand for long- term care services continues to rise, increasing the need for skilled care workers. Care Food Specialists, focusing on food preparation and oral health in long-term care, are essential for improving care quality.

Objective: This project aims to develop a core competency training curriculum for Care Food Specialists in Taiwan and assess its effectiveness in enhancing care worker skills.

Methods: Over two years, participants were recruited from various regions for training, with pre- and post-course assessments and qualitative interviews to evaluate changes in knowledge, attitude, and behavior.

Conclusion/Practical Applications: The project successfully designed and implemented a training curriculum, providing evidence of its positive impact on long-term care quality and offering a practical framework for future competency-based training.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Eating Support for Healthcare Aides (ESHA) Questionnaire — Baseline, Immediately after the 20-hour intervention course
  The scale is designed to assess caregivers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding feeding and swallowing care. It was developed by Lin and Liu (2025) through literature review, expert Delphi consultation, and empirical testing, and comprises three domains with a total of 47 items. The knowledge domain includes 25 dichotomous items (correct/incorrect), with 1 point awarded for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect one; higher scores indicate more comprehensive knowledge. The reliability of this domain was examined using the KR-20 coefficient, yielding a value of 0.61. Item difficulty ranged from 0.60 to 0.99, and items demonstrated good discrimination, making the domain suitable as a baseline for comparing pre- and post-intervention educational outcomes. The attitudes and behaviors domains are assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, measuring caregivers' endorsement of feeding support and the frequency of its actual implementation, respectively.

Trial sites (1)

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