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The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Ohio Department of Aging are sponsoring a summit to gather input for a unified health and human services strategy to improve the state’s long-term direct service workforce in the state.

At the session, core competencies that can be shared across disciplines and service sectors will be identified, as well as collaborative solutions aimed at leveraging costs and creating efficiencies.

“Cultivating a Workforce for Person Centered Long-Term Services and Supports”

Stakeholder Summit for Ohio’s Long-Term Direct Service Workforce Initiative

April 8, 2011
9:00 am – 4:30 pm

Northeast Conference Center
4140 Executive Parkway, Westerville, Ohio

Featuring:

• John McCarthy, Medicaid Director, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
• Bonnie Kantor-Burman, Sc.D., Director, Ohio Department of Aging
• Sheryl Larson, Ph.D., National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center

The registration deadline is April 5.
Space is limited.

Key representatives from the following stakeholder groups are encouraged to attend:

• Providers
• Employees
• Training programs
• Local Workforce Boards
• College and university faculty and students in degree programs in health and human service shortage areas
• State agency program and policy staff
• Advocates, service recipients, and family members

For more information, contact Dushka Crane-Ross, Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center, by e-mail or phone (614-366-3126).

The Pioneer Network has extended the deadline to submit proposals to be a guide and/or presenter at its 2011 National Conference, which will take place in St. Charles, Missouri, from August 1-4.

The new deadline is Friday, December 10; all proposals must be submitted electronically.

Ten tips for writing proposals to be a conference guide and/or presenter are available on the Pioneer Network’s website. Session guides/presenters represent a wide range of professions, such as nurses, architects, administrators, direct-care workers, researchers, artists, and advocates. Elders and family members are also encouraged to present.

The Pioneer Network is a leader in the culture change (pdf) movement and advocates for person-centered care. The organization boasts that it “hosts the only national conference devoted solely to culture change.”

The theme of this year’s conference is “Explore. Discover. Change.” Registration to attend the conference will be open this spring. More information about the Pioneer Network 2011 National Conference is available on the Pioneer Network’s website.

– by Deane Beebe

The Pioneer Network is requesting proposals to be a guide and/or presenter at its 2011 National Conference, which will take place in St. Charles, Missouri, from August 1-4.

The deadline to submit proposals is Tuesday, November 30; all proposals must be submitted electronically.

Ten tips for writing proposals to be a conference guide and/or presenter are available on the Pioneer Network’s website. Session guides/presenters represent a wide range of professions, such as nurses, architects, administrators, direct-care workers, researchers, artists, and advocates. Elders and family members are also encouraged to present.

The Pioneer Network is a leader in the culture change (pdf) movement and advocates for person-centered care. The organization boasts that it “hosts the only national conference devoted solely to culture change.”

The theme of this year’s conference is “Explore. Discover. Change.” Registration to attend the conference will be open this spring. More information about the Pioneer Network 2011 National Conference is available on the Pioneer Network’s website.

– by Deane Beebe

PHI joined more than 300 ombudsmen, long-term care consumers, nursing home family and resident council members, professionals, government officials, nursing home employees’ union representatives, and advocates this week at the Consumer Voice‘s 35th Annual Meeting and Conference, which kicked off in Orlando, Florida, on October 18.

PHI was one of the sponsors of this year’s conference, and helped several direct-care workers attend the event.

Person-Centered Care and Culture Change the Buzz

Many of this year’s conference sessions have focused on — or included discussion of — strategies to achieve culture change and deliver person-centered care. The role of the direct-care workforce in achieving culture change was highlighted throughout these workshops.

PHI, which is currently partnering with SAGE on the National Technical Assistance Resource Center for LGBT Elders, was pleased to see a workshop addressing the challenges of supporting LGBT elders.

At “Gay and Gray or Heading That Way,” presenter Debi Lee, lead regional ombudsman, Centralina [North Carolina] Area Agency on Aging, discussed her organization’s project on bridging the gap between direct-care workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) elders through relationship building, training, mutual support, and advocacy.

Lee noted that, in order for the project’s second phase to be more successful at bridging that gap, its events will take place in nursing facilities and while direct-care workers are on the clock, rather than on their own unpaid time.

Models for Quality Improvement

At “Innovative Collaborations to Improve Nursing Home Life for Residents, Family, and Staff,” two innovative models were presented.

Direct-care workers from Virginia’s Trinity Mission Health and Rehabilitation (pictured below) discussed how their facility used Civil Monetary Penalty funding for its quality improvement project to reduce certified nursing assistant turnover by 25 percent. To achieve their goal the facility works to:

• empower CNAs
• provide CNAs with more support
• enhance CNA awards and recognition opportunities
• enhance CNA skills and training
• create a CNA mentorship program for new staff
• involve CNAs in care plan meetings

“The CNAs are key members of the team; they know and work closely with the residents,” said Claire Curry, legal director of the Virginia-based Legal Aid Justice Center, which initiated the Community Partnership for Improved Long-Term Care, Trinity Mission’s project partner.

Presenters (L-R): Sheila Faulkner, Brittany Burgess, Melva Proctor, Latisha Ayres, Phyllis Crenshaw, and Zelda McGruder

“It is preposterous when the CNAs are not a part of the care planning meetings…. [Their input] is essential to delivering person-centered care,” Curry said.

During this session, Karlin Mbah, family council coordinator and policy advocate for FRIA: The Voice and Resource for Quality Long-Term Care, discussed a project the organization is launching in 2011 with family councils and the 1199 SEIU Labor Management Project.

In this collaboration, family caregivers and direct-care workers are strengthening their relationships by looking at the meaning of the word “dignity” as it applies to workers, family members, and residents.

“Family and friend caregivers believe that working together from the bottom-up — formal and informal caregivers — can bring person-centered care to nursing homes,” Mbah said.

OAA Reauthorization Act and the Direct-Care Workforce

PHI National Policy Analyst Gail MacIness was a panelist for the plenary session entitled “Older Americans Reauthorization Act — Listening Session,” where she discussed PHI’s recommendations (pdf) on:

• improving training and empowerment for the direct-care workforce;
• building infrastructure for self-directed services; and
• incorporating workforce planning and assessment into the aging services network.

Official listeners from the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the Administration on Aging participated in the panel presentation.

Preventing Elder Abuse

A presentation on stopping elder abuse included information on how professionals can help.

During the Q and A, PHI staff had the opportunity to highlight the role of direct-care workers in preventing abuse, as well as PHI’s free curriculum, Adult Abuse & Neglect Prevention Training.

– by Deane Beebe

This fall, the Center for Excellence in Assisted Living (CEAL) is offering four one-hour webinars on practices designed to improve the quality of assisted living.

“Workforce Practices: How to Achieve Successful Outcomes,” the first webinar, takes place on September 29.

The other webinars in the CEAL series are:

• Person-Centered Care: It’s More than an Art
• Dementia Care: What Works?
• Medication Administration: Getting it Right

“All four topics are critical to building solid relationships between staff and residents, as well as aligning public policies with quality outcomes,” said PHI Michigan State Policy Director Hollis Turnham.

Presenters for the CEAL webinars will include award winners from the organization’s Promoting Excellence in Assisted Living Awards Program.

There is a registration fee for each webinar. Continuing Education Credits will be offered.

– by Deane Beebe

A provision in the health reform law extends the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration program for another five years, until 2016.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter (pdf) to state Medicaid directors in an effort to get states to participate. To make it easier for the 29 states (and the District of Columbia) that took part in the original MFP demonstration to do so again, the agency has streamlined the enrollment process significantly.

States that did not participate in the initial MFP demonstration can apply for the second phase. CMS plans to post guidelines later in July on how these states can apply, and will select states on a competitive basis.

The MFP demonstration program provides funding to states to facilitate the development of community-based long-term care programs instead of institutional care to provide services and supports to elders and people with disabilities who receive Medicaid.

Benefits to States that Participate

In late June, CMS sent a letter to state Medicaid directors to highlight the advantages of participating in the extended MFP program, including:

• enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage rate for qualified services;
• national technical assistance and supplemental services;
• full reimbursement for some administrative costs; and
• reimbursement of home and community-based services and demonstration services at an enhanced rate.

Congress authorized the MFP program to be extended until 2016 and provided $2.25 billion. The initial five-year MFP demonstration had a $1.75 million budget and was set to expire in 2011.

Inside Health Policy reports that the MFP program made it possible for 6,000 people to move from institutional to community-based care by 2009.

PHI Provides Technical Assistance to MFP Program

“We were very pleased that Congress decided to extend the MFP demonstration program in health reform,” said PHI National Policy Director Steve Edelstein. “MFP has been an important vehicle not only for expanding home and community-based services but also for states to pursue initiatives for support and an adequate and stable workforce to provide those services.”

For the past year, PHI has been providing technical assistance on workforce issues to a number of state MFP grantees through the Direct Service Workforce Resource Center. The PHI policy team has been helping with workforce data collection and monitoring, providing guidance on procurement and incentive payment polices, and providing support for entry training programs.

PHI National Director of Curriculum & Workforce Development Peggy Powell is working with MFP demonstration staff in the District of Columbia, by assisting in the development and implementation of a values-based pilot training program for community-based, direct-support workers and other provider agency staff.

The goal of the training is to increase the trainees’ understanding of a person-centered approach in meeting the needs and preferences of their program participants and supporting fuller community integration.
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Powell noted, “During our recent interviews with community residence and day program staff, we consistently heard them express how important it is to provide this opportunity and choice for consumers, and the need to help direct-support staff develop the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve MFP’s vision for full community integration.”

– by Deane Beebe