The July issue of The Gerontologist is devoted to findings from the Better Jobs Better Care research and demonstration project. BJBC, which began in 2002 and ended in 2006, was the largest initiative in the nation ever created to address the high vacancy and turnover rates of direct-care workers by improving the quality of direct-care jobs. The initiative involved changing both public policy and employer practice. Demonstration grants were made to groups in Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
A nine-page overview lays out how and why the project came into being, the problems affecting the direct-care workforce, and how awareness of and responsiveness to those problems is changing. The essay is by Robyn Stone (pictured), executive director of the Institute for the Future of Aging Services, and PHI President Steven Dawson. FAS and PHI conceived of BJBC and provided technical assistance to the grantees. Funding was supplied by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies.
Among the findings detailed in the issue:
- Direct-care workers across long-term settings identified more pay, improved communication, better supervision, and being treated with respect as the most important things employers could do to improve jobs.
- After accounting for satisfaction with wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities — good basic supervision was most important in affecting CNAs to stay in their jobs.
- There is a positive correlation between CNA job commitment and resident satisfaction.
- After accounting for satisfaction with wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities, good basic supervision was the most important factor behind commitment to the job. Continue reading ‘Nationwide Initiative to Reduce DCW Turnover Documented’
Are rising gas prices making it harder for you to deliver or receive care? Add your comments at the end of this post.
We all feel the pinch from high gas prices, but for home care workers it’s more of a punch. As PHI President Steven Dawson puts it: “The doubling of gas prices over the past few years has been like a pay cut for many home care workers — particularly those serving clients in rural areas.
“Policy makers like to believe that home care is cheaper than nursing homes, but that’s only true because home care workers are paid less than nursing home workers, often without health benefits,” adds Dawson. “There’s not much good to say about higher gas prices, except perhaps that they will now force policy makers to look more closely at the real costs of shifting toward home-based care, and in response create realistic reimbursement policies that will offer home care workers a true livable wage and benefits.”
When PHI’s Michigan State Director Hollis Turnham wrote about the home care gas crisis in our blog in June, talking about the problems she was already hearing about, anticipating others, and asking what other people were experiencing, the response was swift and impassioned. An employer called rising gas prices “the 500 lb gorilla in the room for home care agencies.” A home care worker talked about seeing turnover increase and “looking for something closer to home myself.” The head of a home care and hospice aide recruitment agency said he planned to do “something very tangible to address this issue,” though he wasn’t ready yet to say just what.
Continue reading ‘Rising Gas Prices Expose Home Care Fault Line’
If you’re having some doubts about whether public perception of direct-care workers is improving, a recent run of insightful stories in local papers may give you some hope.
Two stories in Vermont papers, one in the April 7 St. Albans Messenger and one in the April 4 Brattleboro Reformer, covered a new study about the state’s growing direct-care worker shortage. Both amplified its message and recommendations, stressing the need for higher reimbursement rates to long-term care providers, so they can increase pay and benefits for direct-care workers. “If employers are having trouble now with hiring and retaining workers, we’re really going to see a shift in the next 10 to 12 years as the baby boomers turn 75 and older,” said Alexandra Olins, PHI’s northern New England regional director, in the Messenger article.
Continue reading ‘Signs of Progress in the Mainstream Press’
According to a new study, better wages and benefits are critical to retaining direct-care workers in Vermont, yet a third of the state’s direct-care workers have employer-sponsored health insurance and only half of the workers surveyed expected to receive a raise.
Legislative Study of the Direct Care Workforce in Vermont also reports that only 42 percent of the 1,700 direct-care workers surveyed received formal job training, although workers who receive professional training remain in their jobs significantly longer.
The report makes nine recommendations to strengthen the state’s direct-care workforce: Continue reading ‘Vermont Study Calls Wages and Benefits Critical’
Watch the Fox 44 News video
The forecast was for somewhere between 6 and 12 inches of snow and the roads were bad on the morning of the town meeting with Senator Sanders. I was worried about attendance, but by 10:45 or so we had about 50 people, which felt like a victory in and of itself.
There was real energy in the room. Bernie (which is what everyone called him) started with some great opening remarks, talking about the workforce on the national level. Next up was Jean, the former director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, who receives care at home. She talked about how Vermont’s been taking the lead in consumer direction and needs to continue to do so. The commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living gave an excellent summary of the recommendations of the Legislative Study of the Direct Care Workforce in Vermont (to be published on the DAIL website next week). Then Diane, an LNA who works at the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden/Grand Isle counties, talked about why she is a caregiver and the challenges she and her colleagues face, while Bernie shook his head in agreement.
Continue reading ‘Vermonters Get Fired Up at Town Meeting’
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