Article Challenges Human, Economic Challenges of Direct Care Work

As reported by PHI, the Washington Post Magazine ran a major feature article recently that highlighted the disparity between the rising need for home-care workers and the poor wages and working conditions these jobs usually entail. Its author, Paula Span, referenced figures from PHI Director of Policy Research Dorie Seavey about the low wages paid to workers and the high turnover rates that undermine the quality of care.

“Marilyn Daniel’s Reward” (May 10) weaves the story of 91-year-old Rozzie Laney and her 63-year-old home-care aide Marilyn Daniel around a detailed explanation of the role of home health care workers and the generally poor quality of their jobs. In effect, it offers readers, within the context of a heart-warming story of compassion and care, a primer on the field of home health care and the human and policy-level issues that currently confront it.

Please take a moment to read the full article by clicking here.

Nursing Homes Serving Latinos Provide Poorer Quality of Care

New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association recently found that nursing homes that serve predominately Latino populations provide poorer quality of care compared to those serving mostly white older adults.

It should be noted that this research is preliminary, because it relies on the rate of bedsores developed at Latino nursing homes which researchers found to be significantly higher. However, this finding alone warrants more systematic examination and should not be discounted.

Click here to read the full story in the Aging in Action Newsletter!

What Does It Mean To Live United?

As part of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Direct Care Workers Association has been involved in United Way's year long "Live United" campaign.

Some members of the Association came in to the United Way offices to have their picture taken in the famous white t-shirt and talk about the ways that they live united.

Building off that idea, Rich Harwood wrote a blog post about the "10 Ways to Live United". He challenges each of us to think about the 10 ideas and what progress we have made over the past year. Click here to view his post.

Op-Ed in OUR local Morning Call Urges Investment in PA Direct Care Workforce

There are many organizations working on a national level to bring the needs of the direct care workforce to the forefront. Sometimes, as a local chapter of the Direct Care Worker Association, we may feel disengaged with these movements.

Recently, however, the national blogs began to discuss an April 23rd op-ed that appeared in Allentown’s The Morning Call, right here in the Lehigh Valley!

The op-ed was written by Robert S. Zimmerman. He formerly served as the state’s secretary of health and also its Medicaid director. More recently he was director of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Region 3 Office for the Mid-Atlantic States.

In the article, Zimmerman asks state leaders to take advantage of the infusion of $4 billion in additional Medicaid funding from the federal stimulus by “mak[ing] a significant investment in an important but under-recognized industry – publicly-funded home and community-based services (HCBS)” Read the full article by clicking here.

Manual for Nursing Homes Going Through Culture Change

For more than 20 years, America’s nursing homes have struggled to live up to the goals of the “culture change” movement, which would transform nursing homes from clinical institutions into home-like settings in accordance with person-centered federal standards established in the 1980s.

A new manual from the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes campaign created with support from the Commonwealth Fund seeks to address this issue by offering nursing home staff an evidence-based guide to preparing, implementing, and sustaining clinical and cultural changes.

Read the full story on the PHI blog by clicking here.