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New from PHI’s National Clearinghouse

March 15, 2012

The newest additions to the PHI National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce:

Frontline Caregivers: Still Struggling — This article, from the Winter 2012 issue of Dissent, outlines the struggle faced by home care workers as they try to achieve better wages and more consistent hours. It notes that, in the current political and economic climate, many public funding avenues for paying home care workers and family caregivers are drying up, and unions are being stripped of their collective bargaining rights. The authors explain that, under federal labor law, home care workers aren’t even guaranteed basic minimum-wage and overtime protections.

Assisted Living State Regulatory Review 2012 — This report summarizes the state laws and regulations that govern assisted living facilities, including requirements for staff criminal background checks and age minimums, CPR training, staff-to-resident ratios, and training requirements. It also provides contact information for each state’s assisted living regulatory agency and offers brief commentary about regulations and legislation currently under consideration. The report is published yearly by the National Center for Assisted Living.

Mental Illness Training for Long Term Care Staff — This study notes that direct-care workers in nursing homes are often not specifically trained to provide care for residents with dementia and other mental disabilities. It presents the findings of a study in which nursing aides are given an internet-based training in caring for residents with mental illnesses. The researchers found that the aides performed their jobs more confidently after being trained. The authors further theorize that widespread use of such internet trainings could boost quality of care nationwide. The study was published in the January 2012 JAMDA.

The PHI National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce is a national online library for people in search of solutions to the direct-care staffing crisis in long-term care. It houses over 1,000 articles, reports, issue briefs, and fact sheets on the direct-care workforce.

– by Matthew Ozga

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