The newest additions to PHI’s National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce:

Consumers’ Experience in the Massachusetts Personal Care Program: This report presents survey data pertaining to Massachusetts’s state-run Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program. It shows that consumers of the PCA services appreciate the program for improving their quality of life, helping them perform activities of daily living (ADLs), and allowing them to live independently. However, consumers frequently lament the fact that their PCAs are paid low wages and given inadequate benefits. The report was compiled by the public health research firm JSI Research & Training Institute.

Improving the Long-Term Care Workforce Serving Older Adults: This article argues that the U.S. long-term care workforce — which includes direct-care workers — must greatly expand in the coming years in order to keep up with demand. To that end, the authors propose a four-pronged approach to increasing the supply — and the quality — of the nation’s long-term care workforce. Suggestions include increasing wages and benefits, devoting more funds to training and development, and promoting culture change within nursing homes. The article was published in the January 2010 issue of Health Affairs, which is entirely dedicated to long-term care services and supports.

PHI’s National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce is a national online library for people in search of solutions to the direct-care staffing crisis in long-term care. It houses over 800 articles, reports, issue briefs, and fact sheets on the direct-care workforce.