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“Invest in the nursing-facility work force, those who provide the care and have the most influence on the results produced. Hire the best people, train them and treat them well. Reward them with a livable wage and great benefits. Involve them in planning and decision-making. Have enough staff on board to ensure that the safety [...]

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Wages for home health care workers should be virtually doubled, according to Home Care for Seniors Has New Urgency, an editorial in the January 6 Minnesota Star Tribune. “They now make $7.50 to $12 an hour – on par with a McDonald’s employee – even though their skill levels suggest a $16- to $18-an-hour pay range,” writes [...]

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The direct-care workers most likely to leave their jobs – particularly in home care agencies or nursing homes – are those who see no opportunity for advancement and/or find their workloads too heavy, according to an article in the December 2007 issue (Volume 47, Number 6) of The Gerontologist.For “Job Perceptions and Intent to Leave [...]

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Last year, the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign in Pennsylvania amplified direct-care worker voices in the debate over health care reform by joining a new statewide coalition. That amplification got a boost today when the coalition received a major grant. The Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN) has been awarded a $750,000, three-year [...]

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An article in the February 5 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update on Governor Ed Rendell’s plans for Cover All Pennsylvanians (CAP).The governor is proposing to fund CAP in part with money accumulated in a state fund that helps doctors pay their malpractice insurance costs. He has now said he will not approve the malpractice subsidies until lawmakers agree [...]

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Direct-care workers can “serve as a face of uninsured women,” Tameshia Bridges of the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign told a roomful of health care reform advocates at a Families USA conference. Bridges and Lisa Codispoti of the National Women’s Law Center paired up to present their January 26 workshop (pdf), Putting [...]

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