About Us

PHI is a nationally recognized nonprofit whose mission is to transform the delivery of eldercare and disability services. We offer both home- and facility-based providers the skills to manage change and create dynamic relationship-centered organizations that better serve elders, people with disabilities, and their families.

The PHI Coaching Approach℠ is a suite of training and organizational development consulting services, offered to employers within the eldercare/disability market. This suite of services helps employers build within their staffs the core skills necessary to delivering relationship-centered care. The five essential skills that the PHI Coaching Approach develops within caregiving staff are: active listening; self-reflection/self-management; clear communication without blame or judgement; collaborative problem solving, and participative leadership.

In our work with you, we support you to:

• Build on strengths. Look for what is working well within your organization and, then, grow change from that positive core.
• Learn new skills. Explore new interpersonal communications and caregiving skills that foster healthy relationships, teamwork, and collaborative decision making in support of care that is responsive to individual needs and preferences.
• Develop formal and informal leaders. Create new opportunities to share and grow leadership throughout your organization.
• Create home environments. In residential settings, implement flexible household and neighborhood models that support individuals to engage in communities filled with the vital connections of family and friends.
• Create sustainable change. Commit to organizational structures, policies, and practices that continuously improve the quality of jobs, quality of care, and quality of life.

Adult Learner-Centered Training: A Unique Approach

PHI has been using and developing an adult learner-centered approach to training for over two decades.

Learner-centered training, as the name implies, focuses on the learning process of the trainee. By contrast, traditional teaching, including most workforce training, is usually teacher-centered—i.e., focused on the “teaching process” of the trainer. In teacher-centered training, the trainer is the “expert,” imparting knowledge to the students. The trainer generally showcases his or her knowledge through lectures and slide presentations, sometimes adding videos or guest lecturers to supplement the curriculum. The role of the trainee is to listen, ask questions, and absorb information. The trainee is a passive vessel waiting to be filled with new information.

When the teaching approach puts the learner and the learning process at the center, the trainer’s function shifts. Rather than primarily functioning as the information expert, the trainer acts as a facilitator, providing a framework for the learning process. The trainer’s role is to ensure that the appropriate learning experiences and resources are available, to ask questions that guide participants’ inquiry and reflection, and to give feedback on their level of success. The trainer designs multiple learning activities and uses various techniques to support and facilitate the learning process, building on what learners already know.

At its core, adult learner-centered training assumes learning is active, not passive.