Workshops for Direct Care Staff
CARE U provides valuable education for certified nursing assistants (CNAs), personal care workers (PCWs), community health workers (CHWs) and other direct care staff who work with older adults.
We know that CNAs and direct care staff want continuing education and use the information to improve the care they provide. That’s why our Center for Aging Research and Education (CARE) began offering free one-day workshops for direct care staff in 2014.
CARE U workshops offer interactive presentations and active learning exercises on the following topics:
- Aging and vision
- Caring for people living with dementia
- Maintaining older adult mobility
- Nutrition and swallowing
- Putting the person in person-centered care
- Understanding pain
- Emergency preparedness
Upcoming CARE U workshops are listed in the right sidebar. If registration is not yet open for the workshop you would like to attend, please fill out this form to express interest in a future CARE U workshop.
Are you a Certified Direct Care Professional?
CARE U has been approved as a microcredential by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for people who have completed the Certified Direct Care Professional (CDCP) training. Microcredentials are opportunities for continuing education that demonstrate relevant knowledge and expertise to employers.
If you are a CDCP who would like to receive a microcredential for participating in CARE U, please indicate that when you fill out the registration form for the CARE U workshop.
For more information:
Do you want to become a CARE U trainer, to bring CARE U workshops to your area?
To reach more CNAs and direct care staff across Wisconsin, CARE developed a train-the-trainer program to prepare health educators to offer their own local CARE U workshops.
To learn more about the CARE U train-the-trainer and apply, please click here.
Upcoming CARE U workshops for direct care staff
- Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Milwaukee, with workshop materials in English and Spanish at the Zilber College of Public Health at UW–Milwaukee – register here
- Sign up here to express interest in future CARE U workshops. We’ll let you know when workshops are scheduled near you.
Upcoming train-the-trainers for health educators
- Please see here for details on the CARE U train-the-trainer
Contact CARE with any questions at (608) 265-4330 or care@son.wisc.edu
Read about a previous CARE U for direct care staff workshop in Monroe, Wisconsin.
Direct care staff participants in CARE U workshops say:
There was not a thing that I wasn’t interested in. It was an excellent event! Even the simple tips. I told my manager some and she said, wow. … There’s not a lot of information out there for CNAs to grab onto.
I feel very lucky to have attended and can’t wait to take what I’ve learned and apply it to my residents.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $5,000,000 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources (FAIN# U1Q53041). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.