PHI has been featured in a report on caregiving training programs and curricula conducted by the International Longevity Center (ILC) as an initiative of the Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a joint project of the ILC and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education.

The review is national in scope, but special emphasis is placed on Southern California. The primary focus is to show how in-home care workers are trained, as far as settings, content, hours, the presence of special modules, and best training practices.

Dr. Vera Salter, former Director of PHI’s National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce, is featured in the report, outlining PHI’s Direct-Care Worker Training and Credentialing Model.

The key premises of the model are that it should:

• Be based on consumer self-determination and person-directed care.
• Be competency based, and so recognize the worker’s ability to apply a set of related skills in performing “critical work functions” across a range of situations and settings.
• Use adult learner-centered methods in training programs and curricula to maximize the trainees’ chances of success.

Salter presented the model in May 2008 at the convening of the Caregiver Training Task Force.