Recent national reports asserted an urgent imperative for transforming working conditions for the direct care workforce in the US. These clarion reports identified key influencers in reform as federal and state governments, workers’ unions and coalitions, individual and organizational employers. Equally essential and well-positioned local actors have been overlooked in the conversation—namely, municipalities, area agencies on aging, higher education, philanthropic entities, and community. Although deemed “essential,” direct care workers have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines an early public-private partnership initiative designed to recruit and train PCAs in Virginia.
AmateauG.GendronT. L.RhodesA. (2022). Stress, strength, and respect: Viewing direct care staff experiences through a trauma-informed lens. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2022.2039132
2.
BertaW.LaporteA.DeberR.BaumannA.GambleB. (2013). The evolving role of health care aides in the long-term care and home and community care sectors in Canada. Human Resources for Health, 11(1), 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-25
3.
BryantN.HennessaA.CampbellS. (2021). An exploration of state-sponsored home care aide training approaches. LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston and University of California. http://www.advancingstates.org/node/72706
DaileyW.MorrisJ. A.HogeM. A. (2015). Workforce development innovations with direct care workers: Better jobs, better services, better business. Community Mental Health Journal, 51(6), 647–653. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-014-9798-4
7.
Department of Medical Assistant Services (DMAS) (2003). Personal care aide training curriculum. https://bit.ly/31DwSnr
8.
DohertyR.PurtiloR. (2016). Ethical Dimensions in the Health Professions (6th edition). Elsevier.
9.
FranzosaE.TsuiE.BaronS. (2018). Who’s caring for us?”: Understanding and addressing the effects of emotional labor on home health aides’ well-being. The Gerontologist, 20(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny099
10.
HelikerD. (2009). Enhancing relationships in long-term care through story sharing. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 35(6), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20090428-04
11.
HelikerD.NguyenH. (2010). Story sharing: Enhancing nurse aide-resident relationships in long-term care. Research in Gerontological Nursing, 3(4), 240–252. https://doi.org/10.3928/19404921-20100303-01
12.
KemenyM. E.MabryJ. B. (2017). Making meaningful improvements to direct care worker training through informed policy: Understanding how care setting structure and culture matter. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 38(3), 295–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2015.1103652
13.
KusmaulN.AndersonK. (2018). Applying a trauma-informed perspective to a loss and change in the lives of older adults. Social Work in Health Care, 57(5), 355–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2018.1447531
LuzC.HansonK. (2015). Training the personal and home care aide workforce: Challenges and solutions. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 27(3), 150–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/108482231456630
16.
PapadopoulosI.SheaS.TaylorG.PezzellaA.FoleyL. (2016). Developing tools to promote culturally competent compassion, courage, and intercultural communication in healthcare. Journal of Compassionate Health Care, 3(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40639-016-0019-6
17.
ParmarJ.AndersonS.DugglebyW.Holroyd LeducJ.PollardC.Brémault‐PhillipsS. (2021). Developing person centred care competencies for the healthcare workforce to support family caregivers: Caregiver centred care. Health & Social Care in the Community, 29(5), 1327–1338. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13173
ReichelC. (2018). Home health care: Research behind the high-demand, low-pay occupation. Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center Journalist’s Resource. https://bit.ly/2XTj1qM
20.
RubinM.KilgoreR. C. (2020). Integrated care workforce development: University-community collaboration. Social Work Education, 39(4), 534–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2019.1661987
TompkinsC. J.IharaE. S.InoueFerenzM.J.PhamS. (2020). A web-based training program for direct care workers in long-term care communities: Providing knowledge and skills to implement a music and memory intervention. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 41(3), 367–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2019.1699074
WatsonT. B.WellefordE. A.AmateauG.WhiteJ. T.Van AartrijkA. (2021). Walking greatly through this storm: Social connection among older people during COVID-19. In A preliminary report to. Richmond Memorial Health Foundation.
