|
September 05, 2006
|
|
In This Issue:
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Recent Additions
Click here
to see what's new in the Clearinghouse.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Disability Increases as Income Descreases
A special
article
in the Aug 17 New England Journal of Medicine finds that
disability rates rise as income drops for U.S. residents aged 55 and
older. People whose annual incomes are less than the federal poverty
level ($8,259 for an individual as of 2000, the year the data
analyzed in the article was gathered) were found to be six times more
likely to have disabilities that limited activities such as walking,
climbing stairs, and lifting objects than people in the same age
group with incomes of $60,000 or more. Disability rates continued to
decrease as income increased above $60,000.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Uninsurance Rates Higher for People of Color
Nearly two thirds (62 percent) of Latino adults age 19 top 64 in the
U.S. and one-third (33 percent) of African-American adults in the
same age range were uninsured at some point during 2005, compared
with 20 percent of white adults of the same age. That's one of the
findings of
Health Care Disconnect: Gaps in Coverage and Care for Minority Adults.
The issue brief's authors, Michelle Doty and Alyssa Holmgren of the
Commonwealth Fund, conclude: "Closing the health gap for minorities
is a key public policy aim of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Creating new and affordable health insurance options,
strengthening and expanding the health care safety net, and ensuring
both continuity of care and the ability to self-manage chronic
conditions would help to accomplish this goal."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Friend
We hope all you hard-working people got some R and R over the
Labor Day weekend. You deserve it!
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Staffing Goals Part of Nursing Home Quality Campaign
A national campaign backed by a broad-based coalition of long-term
care organizations aims to improve quality of care and quality of
life in nursing homes. The campaign has eight measurable goals, two
of which concern direct-care staffing.
Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes,
a two-year campaign, was launched this month. Participating nursing
homes must commit to working on at least three of the eight goals,
which include focus on resident satisfaction, workforce stability,
and the resident-caregiver relationship. Field offices such as
quality improvement organizations and state nursing home associations
will provide technical assistance and guidance to providers.
Consumers also will be asked to participate by helping to create
awareness of the campaign and what constitutes good quality.
The campaign's seventh goal is that more than 80 percent of all
nursing homes should measure staff turnover and develop action plans
to improve staff retention by September 2008. It also states that the
national average for turnover among CNAs and other caregiving staff
should be reduced by 15 percent. The eighth goal is that the majority
of the nation's nursing homes - at least one-third of them by
September 2008 - employ consistent assignment in order to "maximize
quality as well as resident and staff relationships." Consistent
assignment is defined as having a caregiver caring for the same
person on at least 85 percent of his/her shifts.
Founding organizations behind the campaign include the Alliance
for Nursing Home Quality, the American Association of Homes &
Services for the Aged, and the
American Health Care Association, as well as the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Citizens' Coalition for
Nursing Home Reform.
|
 |
|
|
Michigan Organizations Join Forces to Recruit, Train Needed Caregivers
A partnership between health care providers, colleges, and nonprofit
organizations in Flint, Michigan, aims to address a shortage of
caregivers in area nursing homes and hospitals while giving
disadvantaged adults opportunities for quality employment and career
tracks.
The Flint Healthcare Employment Opportunities (FHEO) program
includes three health care providers that were having a hard time
filling direct-care and other caregiving positions. Together with the
coalition's other members, they developed strategies for recruiting
and training unemployed and underemployed Flint residents.
A
profile
of the project published by the Aspen Institute includes a checklist
of the capacities needed to design and implement an employment and
training initiative of this sort. It also discusses how to get buy-in
from employers and overcome challenges relating to differences in
organizational culture and capacity.
|
|
|
|
|
Background Checks, Registries Not Enough to Prevent Abuse
A report on criminal background checks, registries, and other
strategies intended to prevent abuse of nursing home residents by
nursing assistants finds that "some aspects of these systems work
well," but their effectiveness is limited.
Ensuring a Qualified Long-Term Care Workforce
looks at practices in four representative states: Arizona, Illinois,
Florida, and Washington. While the researchers found "consensus
across stakeholders in all four of the states studied that criminal
background checks are a necessary element of the hiring process,"
they concluded: "It is clear that relying on criminal background
checks and nurse aide registries are [sic] not enough to prevent or
reduce abuse in nursing facilities. Ongoing training, education, and
supervision for workers providing direct care are also key components
to maintaining a quality workforce."
The report also summarizes innovative strategies and recommends
screening and monitoring methods aimed at ensuring a qualified
long-term care workforce. It was produced by the Lewin Group for the
Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy in the Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
|
|
|
|
|
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
In an August 29 e-mail to association members,
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
(AAHSA) President Larry L. Minnix writes about "the most important
dimension of our work together - Respect."
Introducing what he calls the "Ten Commandments of Respect,"
Minnix cites "myriad studies" about the emerging care gap. "Still
other studies point to staffing as the best proxy and predictor of
quality in nursing homes," he writes. "Studies define what it takes
to attract and retain good people. Studies! Studies! Studies!
Fretting! Handwringing! More studies! The Chicken Little syndrome!
What ever shall we do? What's the answer? It all boils down to one
fundamental principle of human psychology and spirituality - Respect."
Minnix's commandments include "Thou shalt view all employees'
roles as essential to the health of the people served and to each
other" and "Thou shalt pay everyone competitively with livable wage
and benefits that reinforce family health and economic stability."
|
|
|
|
|
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
An initiative aimed at improving recruitment, retention, and training
of direct-care workers (DCWs) in Ohio appears to have had a positive
impact, but more improvements are needed, according to a survey of
the nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home care agencies
in one Ohio county.
Direct Care Workforce Organizational Survey
looks at changes over a three-year period following the institution
of Cuyahoga County's Long Term Care Workforce Initiative. A number of
items improved, including "significantly increased financial
incentives for DCWs such as paid personal time off, extra benefits
with seniority, and bonuses." Organizations also offered more
opportunities for training and responsibilities such as mentoring and
increased involvement in care planning.
But some things did not get better for caregivers. Wages remained
stagnant, and the number of organizations offering fully paid health
insurance actually declined. "The loss of fully paid health insurance
is particularly troubling," write Farida Ejaz and colleagues from the
Margaret Blenkner Research Institute at Benjamin Rose. "These trends
are likely to increase DCW turnover rates. Increased financial
burdens and fewer resources for DCWs also increases absenteeism."
The authors also note that providers can only do so much while
reimbursement rates remain low. They cite "a need to advocate for
increasing reimbursement, which would make it more likely that DCW
wages and benefits would improve."
|
|
|
|
|
Conference Call Offers Tips for Consumers on Effective Supervision
Techniques
Great communications between nursing home staff and residents and
their family members are skills that pay off for everyone. Effective
communication approaches will be provided in a free conference call
on September 13.
The fourth in a series of educational calls designed to give
nursing home residents and their families information they can use to
achieve quality care, "Staff Communication and Respectful Work
Environments" will feature Hollis Turnham and Kate Waldo of the
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute. The calls are sponsored by the
National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform.
Click here to
download a registration form.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
September 11, 2006
ASA East Coast August Series on Aging, Philadelphia, PA
September 11-12, 2006
Iowa CareGivers Association conference, West Des Moines, IA
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
