 |
|
|
August 06, 2007
|
In This Issue:
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Recent Additions
Click here to see what's new in the Clearinghouse library.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Tell Them You Care About Health Care
The PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign is collecting names of people who care about health care coverage for direct-care workers, to show legislators and other policymakers how many of their constituents are concerned about this issue. Please help us build our list by adding your name to our petition. And if you've already signed, please forward this item to a friend.
|
|
 |
|
More Information
Click here to read more from and about the HCHCW campaign.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Health Insurance Rates Slipping among Older Adults
The number of people aged 50 to 64 without insurance is growing, as is the number of uninsured among younger adults, according to a report from the AARP Public Policy Institute. Yet those 50 and over depend more on individually purchased insurance than do younger adults, putting them more at risk for denial of services or unaffordably high premiums just as they are becoming more likely to need expensive health care. Of the 51 million Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 in 2005, 14 percent were uninsured - an increase of 25 percent over 2000, according to the report.
Health Coverage among 50- to 64-Year-Olds analyzes data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey to look at health coverage among midlife Americans and how they get - or don't get - insurance.
Friss Feinberg Wins Heinz Award
Lynn Friss Feinberg, the deputy director of the Family Caregiver Alliance's National Center on Caregiving, is the 2007-2008 John Heinz Senate Fellow in Aging. Ms. Feinberg will take a one-year leave of absence to learn about and contribute to aging policy as a member of the U.S. Senate staff, working in the Washington, D.C. office of Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). She was recognized for her pioneering work in developing and replicating family caregiver support programs. The John Heinz Senate Fellowship provides mid-career professionals in aging with an opportunity to obtain first-hand experience in the development and advancement of public policy and legislation to improve the quality of life for older Americans.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The most effective ways to improve direct-care worker job satisfaction are:
Pay a living wage: 63%
Offer opportunities for learning and advancement on the job: 13%
Offer affordable health insurance and paid vacation and sick time: 13%
Include staff in decisions about care provision and workplace organization: 13%
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Friend,
Quality Jobs/Quality Care has more than 2,200 readers now. That's not bad, but it's not close to everyone who cares about improving direct-case jobs in long-term care, either. If you know people who might be interested in this newsletter, please forward a copy so they can see if they want to subscribe.
|
|
|
|
 |
Direct-Care Workers' Profile Growing within the Pioneer Network
The Pioneer Network's 2007 conference last week was "a good venue for direct-care workers to share with leadership -- and for leaders to see what other organizations were doing for their direct-care workers," says Joe Angelelli.
The Pioneer Network works to transform the culture of aging in nursing homes and other long-term care settings. Angelelli, who is now Pennsylvania Policy Director for the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI), was the director of networking and development for the Pioneers until this July. He co-hosted a preconference session on state-based culture change coalitions with PHI's Hollis Turnham.
In several states, Angelelli learned, the coalitions advocating for culture change are primarily focused on direct-care worker issues, and direct-care worker organizations are part of the mix in other states. However, most of the 25 or so active culture change coalitions still don't include direct-care workers. But of those, he believes after their intensive talk, most "realize that for [their work] to be real they have to hear from the people who are doing the hands-on care, and their story needs to be part of the face of what this transformation is." Turnham agrees, adding that a number of the state-based coalitions have mission statements that talk about "culture change for the people who live and work in long-term care organizations."
Click here for the rest of the story.
|
 |
|
Stories of DSP Heroes from Katrina
When Katrina hit New Orleans, many direct-care workers stayed with the people they assisted, helping them to safety. Volunteers of America (VOA) of Greater New Orleans asked the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center on Community to document the experiences of some of those workers and the consumers they helped before, during, and after the hurricane, conducting a series of interviews and focus groups and publishing a report on their findings.
You know that it's got to be dedication that I am still here: The experiences of Direct Support Professionals during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the aftermath summarizes the experiences of 41 VOA staff, about three-quarters of whom were direct support professionals, quoting from individual stories and summarizing common experiences. The 50-page report also includes feedback from managers and a list of recommendations from the direct support workers for their employer in case of another emergency.
An eight-page brief by the same lead author, Higher Ground: The Dedication of Direct Support Professionals During and After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, summarizes the findings of the longer report.
|
|
|
Nurses Have a Moral Obligation to Protest Understaffing in Nursing Homes, says Article
"When a nursing home does not provide adequate staff to properly nourish and hydrate its residents, the issue becomes an ethical one for nursing," write Debra Shipman and Jack Hooten in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.
In "Are Nursing Homes Adequately Staffed? The Silent Epidemic of Malnutrition and Dehydration in Nursing Home Residents," the authors note that a CMS study recommends a minimum of 4.1 hours of nursing care per patient day to avoid quality of care problems, yet the national average is 3.5 hours a day, and that a national study found that 90 percent of all U.S. nursing homes lack adequate staff. They also outline ways that nurses can launch an investigation if they think staffing is inadequate.
Free to subscribers; others must pay a one-time fee.
|
|
|
Handbook for Self-Directing Consumers
A handbook from Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals offers guidance for people who direct their own care in how to hire, employ, and manage their own direct service workers.
While aimed at participants in the Real Choice for Louisiana program, Self-Direction Employer Handbook offers useful advice and forms for any self-directing home care consumer, including advice on how to recruit, screen, and interview applicants, set expectations, arrange for backup, manage employees, resolve conflicts, and terminate when necessary. Also included is a sample job description and a sample employment application.
|
|
|
The BJBC Legacy
The last issue of BJBC Insights, the newsletter of the Better Jobs Better Care research and demonstration project, sums up the project's achievements in two articles.
"The Ripple Effect" outlines the achievements of the five BJBC state-based demonstration projects and the follow-up planned in each state, while "Putting Research Findings into Practice" describes the eight BJBC research projects and presents key findings.
Click here for the rest of the story.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
August 15, 2007
Empowering Ourselves: National Convention of Direct-Care Worker Associations, Des Moines, IA
August 10, 2007
Is a Caring Society Possible? Mobilizing for Social Change, New York, NY
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
