“It is clear that a change in culture is needed – that both health care workers and health care organizations need to change the way they think about direct-care workers and, in particular, that the direct-care workers need to be seen as a vital part of the health care team,” says Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The institute is part of the National Academy of Sciences.
The report, from the IOM’s Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans, also calls for concrete improvements in the quality of direct-care jobs. It advocates a three-pronged approach:
- More, and more effective, education and training;
- Increased wages and benefits; and
- Improvements to the work environment, such as empowerment strategies and culture change.
When the IOM talks, Congress generally listens. Past IOM reports have led to major improvements in our health care system – like the Nursing Home Reform Act of OBRA 1987, which grew out of an IOM report on long-term care. The current report is focused on how we can prepare for the coming baby boomer “age wave” by ensuring that the nation has an adequate and capable geriatric care workforce.
PHI President Steven L. Dawson provided testimony to the committee and served as an expert reviewer on the report. He calls its chapter on direct-care workers a “major step forward.”
“In the past, public policymakers have ignored direct-care workers. I’m hopeful that now, with the IOM’s report shining a light on these essential workers, we can improve the quality of direct-care jobs, in order to improve the quality of care,” says Dawson in a PHI press release.
The press release also links to Dawson’s presentation to the IOM, PHI’s recommendations, which expand on the IOM report’s, and several PHI publications about the workforce.
Click here for the full IOM report (see chapter 5 for the section on direct-care workers), a fact sheet and an issue brief summarizing its main findings, audio of the press conference announcing the report, and more
Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org
Major step forward for DCW.
I am President of Presbyterian Homes in the Presbytery of Lake Erie, located in NW PA. It is true that DCW’s from the nursing, dietary, housekeeping and all departments, all play a vital role in the physical and emotional security of our residents. In PA. there is no State Aide to reside in Personal Care unless you are poor enough to be entitled to SSI. They the facility gets around $30.00 a day for 24 hour a day care, 7 days a week, to care for a SSI resident.
Culture change is important to the health care industry along with any industry that is customer focused. Many of our DCW’s are single mom’s that receive no government assistance yet they decide to work for a living. If they could receive food stamps or gas cards it would make there life so much more pleasant consequently affecting their attitude toward their job and family.
The government raises the minimum wage but doesn’t change the financial reguirements to get assistance from the State. That doesn’t make sense. We were paying above the minimum wage before the mandate and still our DCW’s and entry positions are barely keeping their head above water.
Can’t some State/Federal assistance be given to these workers to help them maintain a reasonable quality of life. They are willing to work and they get all their State Aide stripped from them. In fact one worker told me that the case worker told her if you had another baby you could get assistance.
Just please give these people a hand up – so their families and particularly their children can purchase their school pictures and participate in meaningful activities. Consequently giving them a sense of pride, self confidence and positive look to the future.
Our DCW’s children are our DCW’s of the future in many situations.
Sincerely, Yvonne Atkinson
It is time for the direct care worker to be recognized for the valuable service they provide. For to long we have been at the bottom of the barrel and the time has now come for all direct care workers to stand proudly as an important part of the heathcare system. We are finally getting the recognition we all deserve and all direct care workers need to contact their legislators and tell them to support any legislation that deals with better pay and benefits.we also need more and better training opportunities as well as an opportunity to advance as direct care workers.
Sincerely, Patricia Downing(Pa. Direct Care Workers Association)