Wages Adjusted for Inflation: Over the past decade, inflation-adjusted median hourly wages for Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants in New Hampshire increased by 6 percent, from $9.78 to $10.33. Real wages for Personal Care Aides increased by 13 percent while those for Home Health Aides remained virtually unchanged.
Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Compared to the national civilian workforce, fewer of New Hampshire’s direct-care workers have access to and use employer-sponsored insurance. Some work for employers that do not offer health insurance. Others work for employers that limit eligibility for health insurance to full-time employees. This creates a barrier for many direct-care workers, especially those in home and community-based settings, who often work only part-time due to the episodic nature of direct-care work. Even workers who do have access to insurance from their employer may find the co-pays and premiums unaffordable.
SB 496: This 2008 bill led to the creation of a health commission charged with identifying best practices for retaining and recruiting direct-care workers in home and community-based service settings. (Signed June 16, 2008)
Granite State Independent Living – Personal Care Attendant Registry: This nearly state-wide Center for Independent Living operates an online matching service registry for consumers to search for available independent providers.
DirectConnect Program: Healthcare Workforce Grant: The US Department of Labor awarded the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire a highly competitive $2.9 million Healthcare Workforce grant. Known as the DirectConnect program, the goal of the 3-year grant is to create career ladder opportunities for direct-care workers and to provide better training to improve retention among current direct-care job holders. PHI is one of the 12 partners on this project, which began in March 2010.
New Hampshire Coalition for the Direct Care Workforce: This group of stakeholders is working to address the shortage of direct-care workers. Created in February 2009, the group provides training and education to improve recruitment and retention of direct-care workers, and serves as a policy advocate, educating policy makers about the needs of direct-care workers.
Community Health & Hospice: Community Health and Hospice (now known as Central New Hampshire VNA), a home care agency in Laconia, New Hampshire, participated in a PHI training pilot program in 2007-2009. The goal was to improve the quality of jobs through staff training in communication and problem-solving skills. Following the intervention, supervision and management practices changed, which led to greater staff satisfaction, less time spent on problem solving, and better quality of care for clients.
The Edgewood Centre: The Edgewood Centre is a family-owned nursing home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire that has implemented culture change activities aimed at improving both the quality of jobs and care. Activities have included training in coaching supervision and peer mentoring and consistent assignment. Outcomes include reduced turnover and call outs, decreased workmen’s compensation claims and work-related injuries, and high client and staff satisfaction.
Eldercare in New Hampshire: Labor Market Trends and Their Implications (pdf): This 2006 report by the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau explores the demand for elder care services and the supply of workers to deliver those services in New Hampshire.
Home Care Workers: Keeping Granite Staters in Their Homes as They Age (pdf): This 2009 publication summarizes the results of a survey of home care workers conducted to identify the characteristics of these workers and their feelings about recruitment and retention issues.
Strategies to Invest in the Future of the Direct Care Workforce (pdf): This 2009 white paper by the New Hampshire Coalition for the Direct Care Workforce outlines strategies for preparing a New Hampshire’s direct-care workforce to care for the state’s growing aging population.
Northern New England LEADS Institute: An Evaluation (pdf): This report evaluates the outcomes of the LEADS Institute, an initiative that aimed to improve the quality of direct-care jobs at 12 organizations in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire between 2006 and 2008.