Bravo Zulu
Achieving Excellence in Relationship-Centered Dementia Care
Bravo Zulu: Achieving Excellence in Relationship-Centered Dementia Care was developed by DEER Program Director Dr. Jennifer Carson in partnership with the Nevada Department of Veterans Services and the Perry Foundation. Bravo Zulu, which was originally a naval sign for “Job well done!” is an interactive dementia education program designed for professional and family care partners.
Schedule an offering of Bravo Zulu
for your organization!
We can help your organization get to “Bravo Zulu!” Contact us to learn more about fee-for-service contract opportunities to host an offering of Bravo Zulu for employees of your organization.
Bravo Zulu contains four 3-hour modules based on the VIPS framework:
This program explores what it takes to get to “Bravo Zulu” within the context of eldercare, including skilled nursing, dementia care, and assisted living communities. The content can also serve to improve home-based care and support!
Our Purpose
- Improve military cultural competence and cultural humility among healthcare providers.
- Provide comprehensive dementia care education to professional and family care partners.
- Serve and support people, including older veterans and veterans with disabilities, like VIPS!
Read the recently published article
on the impact of Bravo Zulu!
The need for person- and relationship-centered care (PCC/RCC) in Alzheimer’s disease andother dementias is well established. Recognizing the limitations of PCC in fully honoring the intricate interdependencies between care partners and persons living with dementia a new training program called Bravo Zulu was developed. This comprehensive, 12-hour dementia training program aims to enhance personhood beliefs and self-efficacy among care partners, improving the experience of care and support for both people living with dementia and their care partners. Responses from 182 participants who completed the training were analyzed using paired t-tests to assess changes in personhood beliefs and self- efficacy. The Bravo Zulu training produced significant increases in both personhood beliefs and self-efficacy. Notably, healthcare professionals without prior care partner training exhibited the greatest gains in personhood beliefs, while participants who were not direct care partners showed substantial improvements in self-efficacy. Overall, these findings support the concept of tailoring dementia education to ensure care partners and healthcare professionals are able to provide culturally competent care that is aligned with the diverse backgrounds of people living with dementia. Expanding access to high-quality interactive programs such as Bravo Zulu can contribute to strengthening the dementia care workforce and improving care experiences for all involved.
Bravo Zulu was originally developed with older veterans and veterans with disabilities in mind, however, due to its focus on dementia and relationship-centered approaches, Bravo Zulu can be used to improve the care and support of all elders.
Interested in attending a future offering?
- Let us know by emailing DEERprogram@unr.edu, or complete our contact form here: https://deerprogram.org/contact/
This program is made possible through funding from the Nevada Department of Veteran Services
