While family caregivers often find great satisfaction in providing care to their loved ones, the physical and emotional demands of caregiving can contribute to poor caregiver health outcomes, including stress, fatigue, poor sleep, and increased risk for chronic health conditions. Respite provides a temporary break from the caregiving role that has been shown to help improve caregiver outcomes.  However, quality respite care opportunities are often limited. The COVID-19 pandemic has further contributed to the global direct care worker crisis.  As a result, there is an urgent need to develop and implement strategies to help recruit, train, and retain respite providers to better meet the respite needs of family caregivers.

The National Respite Care Provider Training TM (NRCPT) Toolkit was developed as part of the ACL-funded Respite Provider Recruitment, Training, and Retention Project. The ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center (ARCH), in collaboration with the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) and the Respite Care Association of Wisconsin (RCAW), field-tested a competency-based online respite provider training curriculum for entry-level respite providers in 10 pilot sites. The Respite Care Association of Wisconsin developed the training curriculum, helped advance a newly developed recruitment campaign among the pilot sites, and worked with ARCH and an evaluation consultant to monitor the effectiveness and reach of the training and marketing strategies.