The Benefits of Online Training for Residential Care Home Staff

As a care home manager, you know how important it is to invest in your teams Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to ensure they maintain professional standards, and changes in your field of work.

If your residential care home training has always been face-to-face, then it’s likely that during Covid-19, you had to adapt – and quickly. While you may have been able to do some staff training in-house, it’s likely that you also turned to online training for your care workers. If you weren’t sure how that would work out, or still aren’t sure of the benefits, then we’ve outlined the benefits of online training for residential and care home staff – read on to find out more.

What are the benefits of online courses for residential care home staff?

1) Online learning can take place anywhere

Your care home staff can take their training courses at home, at work, or even elsewhere if they have to be away from home. Online courses providers for care homes always provide details of the time a course will take, so as a manager, you can allocate and manage time even if they aren’t at work.

2) It can take place at times that suit them and you

Being able to learn when it suits you, is one of the biggest benefits of online learning. It means you can fit training around busy schedules. This came into its own during the disruption caused by Covid-19 and we’ve all recognised the benefits of on-demand training.

Your care home training could take place in scheduled slots during, before or after their shifts – or even at short notice, for example at quiet times such as the night shift.

3) They dictate the pace of their learning

Online learning is like having your own, personal tutor, and your staff can set the pace of their learning. This means you can personalise their learning. Some people may want to learn much faster, others may need more time. It also allows them to take tests and quizzes as they go, giving them immediate feedback and results.

4) It’s cost-effective training: often cheaper than face-to-face courses

Online learning cuts out the cost of physical training materials, and expenses such as travel and accommodation for staff or trainers. 

5) Many people often prefer online learning

For all these reasons, many people prefer online learning. It can help people feel more in control of their learning, and therefore more motivated. In fact in 2021 the academic research portal Springer published a study by the Abdul Kalam Technical University in Lucknow, India, which backs this up.

6) Your care home staff can easily find their course materials, all in one place 

Having materials online means care workers can quickly refer to materials if they need to recap, or refresh their memory about specific topics or techniques.

7) It has less environmental impact

At a time of global climate concerns this can also be a deciding factor in assessing the pros and cons of online learning for your care home staff.

An Open University study in 2005 compared campus-based and distance learning, and not surprisingly, found that the distance learning courses examined involved 87% less energy consumption and produced 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student (per 10-Credit Accumulation and Transfer points) than conventional campus-based university courses.

Why is online learning effective?

Studies undertaken by Deloitte, the Brandon-Hall Group, and IBM, quoted on corporate training blog schoox.com, suggest that:

• eLearning programmes take 40-60% less time than learning in a group setting
• eLearning participants learn five times more, in the same amount of time
• eLearning boosts employee engagement by 18%

Surpisingly, there isn’t a great deal of research on the subject yet, although a study by Dr Tuan D. Nguyen of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee in 2015 concludes that: “Taken as a whole, there is robust evidence to suggest online learning is generally at least as effective as the traditional format.”

Online training for care workers: the way forward for care home managers

As developers of affordable, high-quality health and social care online courses, we believe that online training is a game-changer for residential care homes.

It’s flexible, cost-effective, and means that staff can improve skills and knowledge quickly and efficiently, no matter what stage of their career they’re at.

With a provider of online training programmes in place, you can reassure residential care home residents and families that the people in your care are receiving the very highest standards of care.

Whether you have staff members who are new to the field of residential care, need to refresh their knowledge, or comply with mandatory new rules and regulations in care, online training can help. You’ll find the right training course, available at the right price and time, for all your care home staff.

Quality online care courses for health and social care 

All of our courses are written and endorsed by qualified professionals in the care sector. They come complete with downloadable course content, nationally recognised and verified certification, unlimited resits and your own personal reporting dashboard.

Our courses are split into the four main care industries:

• Childcare online courses
• Healthcare online courses
• Primary Care online courses
• Social Care online courses

And cover the following categories:

• Care Awareness (e.g. Covid-19 Awareness)
• Compliance
• Fire Safety
• First Aid
• Food Hygiene
• Health & Safety
• Care Management
• Mental Health
• New to Care
• Non-Clinical
• Safeguarding
• Specialist

So if you’re looking for a compliant, online care skills academy which offers training courses which are always at a low price, look no further than Caredemy. Enrol today and join our online training community for health and social care workers.