Home Health Aide Janie Dixon from HeartWork, an original play celebrating the lives and work of direct-care workers, home care aides, and certified nurse assistants.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Mark Longietti participates in a Come Care With Me event sponsored by the the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers Campaign.

Carol Regan, Director, PHI Government Affairs and Health Care for Health Care Workers Initiative, reads stories of direct-care workers who cannot afford health insurance at the Being a Woman is not a Pre-Existing Condition speak-out sponsored by the National Women’s Law Center on November 4.

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 22, 2009

Contact:

Deane Beebe, PHI Media Relations Director
718.928.2033 / dbeebe@PHInational.org

David Ward, Direct Care Alliance
212.730.0741 / dward@directcarealliance.org

Maine Grant to Expand Insurance to Direct-Care Workers

An $8.5 million federal grant to the state of Maine will expand health coverage to Maine’s direct-care workers. The grant, which was announced on September 3 by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, will also cover seasonal workers, and is expected to extend coverage to about 3,500 Maine residents. The state is eligible for renewal funds for each of five years, up to a total of $42.5 million. Continue Reading

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 18, 2009

Contact: Deane Beebe
Media Relations Director
dbeebe@PHInational.org
718.928.2033 / 718.812.5586

Senator Max Baucus

Senate Finance Committee’s Healthcare Bill Will Better Prepare Direct-Care Workers to Serve Older and Disabled Americans

Two Demonstration Projects to Train, Educate and Support Workers

New York, NY — In the Chairman’s Mark released September 16, Senator Max Baucus has addressed the health care needs of America’s elders and people with disabilities by including provisions aimed at improving training and compensation for direct-care workers—the nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal assistants who provide millions of Americans with daily hands-on assistance. Continue Reading

The lead paper among a set of six issued by the SCAN Foundation (pdf) is a report titled “Direct Care Workers: Essential to Quality Nursing Home and Home Health Care,” arguing that the most important factor affecting quality of care is the quality of interactions between consumers and direct-care workers. Continue Reading