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Dear Friend,
Good news: all the stories in Quality Care/Quality Jobs are now being posted to the PHI blog. That means you can start weighing in on them -- and we hope you will.
Think of our blog as a sort of online water cooler, where people who care about the issues that affect direct-care workers can trade thoughts and ideas, offer each other help and moral support, and just blow off a little steam.
So check out the PHI blog when you have a chance, and click on the "Comments" link under the title of any story to add your voice to the conversation. And stay tuned to Quality Care/Quality Jobs. We'll have more changes for you soon.
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What Makes Workers Want to Leave
The direct-care workers most likely to leave their jobs - particularly in home care agencies or nursing homes - are those who see no opportunity for advancement and/or find their workloads too heavy, according to an article in the December 2007 issue (Volume 47, Number 6) of The Gerontologist.
For Job Perceptions and Intent to Leave among Direct Care Workers: Evidence From the Better Jobs Better Care Demonstrations, researchers studied about 3,000 direct-care workers in the Better Jobs Better Care (BJBC) demonstration program. They divided their subjects, who worked in nursing homes, home care agencies, assisted living facilities, and adult day centers, into three groups: those not at all likely to leave, those somewhat likely to leave, and those very likely to leave in the next year. The workers least likely to leave were those with positive assessments of their supervisor, those who put a high value on helping others, and those who saw the income as rewarding.
"These findings provide support for many of the management-practice improvements taking place in the field, including those implemented in the BJBC demonstration," say authors Diane Brannon et al. The authors cite programs aimed at providing opportunities for advancement or bolstering the altruism and relationships that motivate so many direct-care workers through tactics like "stable assignments that encourage relationships, thoughtful matching of clients and caregivers, rewards and recognition, and training and care planning participation that broaden the scope of helping opportunities."
The data also points to a need for better training for supervisors and higher wages for direct-care workers, the authors note.
Free to subscribers only; others must pay
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Editorial Calls for $16 to $18 an Hour for Home Care Workers
Wages for home health care workers should be virtually doubled, according to Home Care for Seniors Has New Urgency, an editorial in the January 6 Minnesota Star Tribune. "They now make $7.50 to $12 an hour - on par with a McDonald's employee - even though their skill levels suggest a $16- to $18-an-hour pay range," writes Neil Johnson, the executive director of the Minnesota HomeCare Association. "If compensation levels don't increase, there will be an ever-growing shortage of home care staff."
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February 23, 2008
National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) Annual Forum
March 04, 2008
Direct Care Workforce Conference: Tackling the Revolving Door: Recruit, Recognize, Retain
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