NAB to train 600 home help workers

The National Assistance Board (NAB) has announced a major training initiative for its home assistance programme, in partnership with the National Transformation Initiative (NTI).

The programme, set to begin on Thursday, will provide training for 600 home help workers, with a focus on enhancing relational skills and service quality.

NAB Director Colleen Walcott revealed that the initiative was prompted by findings from an independent client satisfaction survey. “The common theme really coming out of that survey was the need for training,” she said. “Workers were asking for skills in terms of communication and engaging with diverse clients. And our beneficiaries were asking for an improvement in service in terms of how our workers engage with them.”

The training programme represents a shift from technical skills to interpersonal abilities. Walcott explained: “We wanted a methodology where persons would immerse themselves in the care and that it would really be guided by the guiding principles of empathy, compassion, and giving care—not just doing a task or providing for a need, but really caring for lives. In other words, putting persons back at the centre of care.”

The collaboration between NAB and NTI, which began last year, aligns with NAB’s current work programme that heavily emphasises human resources and training, said Walcott. She described the partnership as “just one other step in the journey of a long and enduring and productive relationship between the two entities”.

Highlighting the NAB’s commitment to practical training methods, Walcott said: “We did not just want another set of theoretical training where persons come into the classroom, they’re here, they go out, and then they do not apply.” She stressed the importance of engagement in the training process, stating, “We want persons to be really, really, really engaged in the training.”

The initial phase of the training will be conducted face-to-face for all 600 workers, reflecting the NAB’s dedication to personal interaction.

“We pull our workers out of the environment deliberately because that is how care is supposed to be delivered and administered, touching persons and interacting and engaging with persons,” Walcott explained.

The training initiative will begin with cohorts of 60 individuals, as the NAB steps up its drive to enhance service delivery and quality for its elderly and disabled beneficiaries.