Two Hands Caring Conference -- July 25th!

The Lehigh Valley Chapter of the PA Direct Care Workers Association, Lehigh Valley Alliance on Aging, the Workforce Investment Board and United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley proudly offer you the unique opportunity to improve the quality of care you provide to your clients for the low price of $5 for the full-day session!

Friday, July 25th, Morning Session, 8:00 am -12:15 pm
The morning training will be provided by Kelly O'Shea Carney, Ph.D., CMC. Dr. Carney is a licensed psychologist and is certified as a geriatric care manager. She has over 20 years of experience in working with older adults.

Dr. Carney will be presenting “Reflections on Rewards”. This session discusses the intrinsic benefits of hands on care and stress management. Everyone attending the conference will receive a small spa kit with their materials.

Friday, July 25th, Afternoon Session, 12:15-4:30pm
The afternoon training will be provided by Terry DiRienzo-Rives. Ms. DiRienzo-Rives served as the Project Director and Trainer for the local Better Jobs Better Care demonstration project. She spent four years developing and teaching the BJBC Universal Core Curriculum, a training module for Direct Care Workers.

Ms. DiRienzo-Rives will be presenting “Person Centered Care.” Imagine yourself needing care and determine what you want that to look like. Learn what true person-centered care is, and the important people who make that happen, their relationships, communications and teamwork. Person-Centered Care is at the core of the BJBC Universal Core Curriculum for direct care workers.

The Training will be held at:
Northampton Memorial Community Center
1601 Laubach Avenue
Northampton, PA 18067

For additional information, please place a comment to this post, email me, or contact me:

Cori Rolón
United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley
2200 Avenue A
Bethlehem, PA 18017-2189
(610) 807-5742
corir@unitedwayglv.org

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.

Westminster Village Dementia Leadership Initiative

FREE EDUCATION SERIES!


Sponsored in part by The Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation


Designing Effective Interventions for Persons with Dementia: Lessons from Montessori and Neuroscience


Cameron Camp, Ph.D.
Director, Myers Research Institute


Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
Fellowship Hall
First Presbyterian Church
3231 Tilghman Street
Allentown, PA




12:30 pm - Dessert buffet and networking
1:00-3:00 pm - Public lecture

Reservations requested by Tuesday, July 1st by calling 610-782-8460 or email at crepsher@phi-prehomes.org

Out of Gas

PHI's blog has a very timely post about gas prices:

Everywhere I go, people are talking about how the high price of gas is affecting home care workers and agencies. Organizations are contacting me and my colleagues for ideas on how to deal with it, so I’d be very interested to hear from people in other parts of the country. How are employers and workers and clients dealing with it? Are any states planning a response to this crisis? If so, what’s being considered?

Four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline exacerbates all recruitment and retention problems, and I fear that it forces workers to make some very difficult choices. Employers are calling workers to offer them cases and having the workers do the gas calculations and say “I can’t afford to take this one.” Home care aides are seeing their co-workers go to other jobs where they don’t have such stressful transportation issues.

To read the rest of the story, please click here

Join Us!

Today, we are holding the monthly meeting for the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Direct Care Workers Association. You do not have to be a member to attend, so feel free to stop by!

United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley
2200 Avenue A, Third Floor, Conference Room West
Bethlehem, PA 18017

2:30-3:30

Two More Days To Vote!

What topics would you like to see at our July 25th conference?

What would you like to learn?

What can help you better serve your clients?

YOUR OPINION IS IMPORTANT TO US!

Answer the short survey to the right of this post by Wednesday, June 11th and make your voice heard!

Chief of Staff, PA Department of Aging to Speak in Allentown.

Ivonne Gutiérrez Bucher, Chief of Staff, Pennsylvania Department of Aging, will address the Latino Leadership Alliance of the Lehigh Valley on Tuesday, June 17, at the Lehigh County Government Center in Allentown. She will discuss the current initiative in the Pennsylvania Senate, PA ABC, Access to Basic Coverage - health care coverage for the uninsured.

Before assuming her current position, Gutiérrez Bucher held several senior level positions in the PA Department of Aging and PA Department of Health. A member of statewide disability-related boards and councils, she has been given several awards, including the 2006 Governor’s Commission on Women – Role Model Award.

Gutiérrez Bucher came to Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico to obtain an education in the fields of health and business. She is a Licensed Registered Nurse with clinical experience in medical surgical, emergency and geriatric medicine, and holds a Bachelors Degree in business administration and an MBA in health care administration.

The meeting will take place at 8:30 a.m. in the Public Hearing Room of the Government Center, 17 S. Seventh Street. The public is invited to attend free presentations, hosted by the Alliance in English, on the third Tuesday of every month. For further information, please contact President Lissette Lahoz at 610-434-6890, ext. 222, or visit the web site at LLALV.org.