Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Free Home Health Aide Training!

The Lehigh Valley has been selected as a test region for the Pennsylvania Model Curriculum for Direct-Care Workers in Long-Term Living Settings, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

The Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board, Inc. and PA CareerLink Lehigh Valley have teamed with volunteer trainers from Penn State Lehigh Valley, Family Answers, and Westminster Village to deliver a 77-hour training program, designed specifically for entry-level workers in long-term living settings. The program will be free of charge and, at the completion of the program, participants will become credentialed direct care workers.

A set of core competencies have been identified that is common to all direct care workers. At the end of training program, graduates will be able to:

  • Distinguish between the different care settings, needs of consumers and roles of direct care workers
  • Demonstrate principles of good relationships and person-centered care in different care settings
  • Respond appropriately as direct care workers to consumers who are different from themselves
  • Show the role and importance of the direct care worker as a member of a care team
  • Demonstrate proper infection control procedures in any care setting
  • Recognize the diversity of support needs and maintenance of dignity with consumers living in their own homes
  • Demonstrate how to use good communications skills to clarify a consumer’s self-directed care requests
  • Understand the basic principles of body functions and common disease entities
  • Demonstrate proper body mechanics in all care settings
  • Apply principles of Activities of Daily Living support to the elder consumer and consumer with disabilities
  • Demonstrate the ability to manage challenging behaviors related to consumers with Alzheimer’s Disease and depression
  • Describe a direct care worker’s role and responsibilities in reporting abuse and neglect
  • Examine the need for direct care workers to manage time and stress in a healthy manner

If you are interested in attending the training, please contact Joyce Sivell, PA CareerLink Lehigh Valley, at 610-841-1189, or email jsivell@careerlinklv.org.

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