The SCAN Foundation - Workforce

Nursing Assistants Need Friendly and Supportive Supervisors in Nursing Homes

scanadmin — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:40:50 +0000

Working in a nursing home is a low-paid and often stressful job for the nursing assistants who are delivering long-term services and supports to people with serious physical and mental ailments. Pay and benefits aren’t always the determining factors in whether the workers are happy, according to a July 2008 report in the Gerontologist titled, “Nursing Assistants' Job Commitment: Effect of Nursing Home Organizational Factors and Impact on Resident Well-Being.”

Abuse Victims Suffer Multiple Times

scanadmin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:16:32 +0000

If someone receiving long-term services and supports suffers abuse by a paid caregiver, the odds are high that there will be more than one type of mistreatment, according to a May 2010 report, “Elder Abuse in Long-Term Care: Types, Patterns, and Risk Factors,” in Research on Aging. Relatives of people receiving long-term services and supports were surveyed about “occurrence rates and conditional occurrence rates for each of six abuse types: physical, caretaking, verbal, emotional, neglect, and material,” the report said.

Training Vital for Workers Who Deliver Personal Care

scanadmin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:31:24 +0000

For those who receive long-term services and supports at home, there is an essential need for well-trained workers who will stay on the job. Turnover creates uncertainty and unhappiness among those who are cared for, as well as family members who arrange for the care at home. “As states struggle to address shortages and high turnover among direct service workers in their home and community-based services programs, many have identified the need for more worker training as a pressing issue,” according to the September 2009 report, “Direct Service Workforce Core Competencies Annotated Bibliography,” by the Lewin Group. The report has assembled key materials on improving performance and effectiveness among workers in the field of long-term services and supports.

The Healthcare Workforce is Aging Rapidly, and a Labor Shortage is Coming

scanadmin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 23:11:43 +0000

Workers who provide long-term services and supports are older than people in many other segments of the labor force, and as they retire, a supply shortage will emerge, according to the June, 2010 report, “Talent Pressure and the Aging Work Force: Responsive Action Steps for the Health Care & Social Assistance Sector,” by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. “Health care employers can expect a large-scale exodus of older workers in the forthcoming years, and because the need for skilled workers is likely to increase, employers should anticipate especially strong tensions in matching workers to jobs,” the report said.

Hiring Relatives to Help with Care is Good for People on Medicaid

scanadmin — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 02:23:49 +0000

The “cash and counseling” program permits people who need long-term services and supports to decide how to spend the money available to them through government programs. “Cash and Counseling was implemented successfully in three different states, with three different benefit levels, types of services covered, target populations, program rules, and structures for providing counseling and bookkeeping services,” according to the August 8, 2007 report “Cash & Counseling: Improving the Lives of Medicaid Beneficiaries Who Need Personal Care or Home and Community-Based Services,” by the consulting firm Mathematica Policy Research, reviewing a test run of the new approach to paying for services and supports.

The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) Presents a California Direct Care Workforce Fact Sheet

scanadmin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:13:10 +0000

The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI), with support from The SCAN Foundation, presents a fact sheet addressing critical issues surrounding the direct care workforce of California. Each day, more than a half million personal attendants, home health aides, and nursing aides provide essential daily living services and supports to persons with disabilities and chronic care needs, including the elderly.
This fact sheet explores the demographics and growing demand for a highly trained direct care workforce to meet the current and future needs of older Californians and those with disabilities.
To read the PHI fact sheet regarding California’s direct care workforce, please click here.

Six California Fact Sheets Highlight Long-Term Care Issues throughout the State

scanadmin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:40:49 +0000

The SCAN Foundation presents six California fact sheets that draw attention to statewide figures on long-term care.
Each easy-to-use document presents a critical long-term care issue, highlights main points in bullet format and provides a comprehensive list of citations.
Please click on the following links to read each themed fact sheet:

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Presents the Series, Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action

scanadmin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:27:58 +0000

JAMA, a peer-reviewed medical journal, launched a news series focused on caring for the aging population in its Oct. 13, 2010 issue. Titled “Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action," the series aims to improve clinical practice and inform policy in the care of older individuals, especially those who have started to lose their independence or are at risk of doing so. Articles will explore the course of aging as a result of progressive decline and will also analyze how to put existing evidence into practice by using real patient stories and interviews to address pressing care questions.
To access links to the entire series from JAMA's Web site, please scroll down to "Special Collections" on the "JAMA Topic Selections" page by clicking here.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Managing Medications in Clinically Complex Elders: 'Nobody Rushes You Through,"' by Chad Boult and G. Darryl Wieland.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Linking a Comprehensive Payment Model to Comprehensive Care of Frail Elderly Patients: A Dual Approach," by Arpita Chattopadhyay and Andrew B. Bindman.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Managing Medications in Clinically Complex Elders: There's Got to Be a Happy Medium," by Michael A. Steinman and Joseph T. Hanlon.

Please click here to read an excerpt of, "Medication Use in Older Patients: Better Policy Could Encourage Better Practice," by Jerry Avorn.

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "Clinical Care in the Aging Century— Announcing 'Care of the Aging Patient:From Evidence to Action,'" co-authored by Bruce Chernof, president and CEO of The SCAN Foundation.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "Medical Care for the Final Years of Life: 'When You're 83, It's Not Going to be 20 Years,'" by David Reuben.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "Policy for an Aging Society: A Review of Systems," by Christine K. Cassel.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "The Older Adult Driver with Cognitive Impairment, “It’s a Very Frustrating Life," by David B. Carr and Brian R. Ott's.

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "Driving Fitness and Cognitive Impairment: Issues for Physicians," co-authored by David W. Eby and Lisa J. Molnar.

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "Incontinence in Older Women," by Patricia S. Goode, Kathryn L. Burgio, Holly E. Richter and Alayne D. Markland's article .

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "Talking about Incontinence: The First Step Toward Prevention and Treatment."

Please click here for an excerpt of the article, "The Patient Who Falls: It's Always a Trade-Off," by Mary E. Tinetti and Chadrika E. Kumar.

Please click here for an excerpt of the commentary, "The Patient Who Falls: Challenges for Patients, Families and Communities," by Ruth Katz and Priti Shah.

Fact Sheet Highlighting Cuts Affecting Seniors in California’s 2010-11 Enacted Budget

scanadmin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:55:42 +0000

The SCAN Foundation presents a comprehensive new fact sheet providing a breakdown of how the 2010-2011 California state budget affects the state’s seniors.
To read the fact sheet in its entirety, please click here.

Six National Fact Sheets Highlight Critical Issues on Long-Term Care

scanadmin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:27:38 +0000

The SCAN Foundation presents six fact sheets that draw attention to national figures on long-term care providing an introduction to some of the field’s most significant topics.
Each easy-to-use document presents a critical long-term care issue, highlights main points in bullet format and provides a comprehensive list of citations.
Please click on the following links to read each themed fact sheet: