• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

InFront on the Workforce

Long-term and post-acute care publication

Subscribe | Events | Advertise | Contact Us

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Who We Are & What We Do
    • The Vision
    • Readership
  • RESOURCES
    • Important Links
  • Retention & Engagement
  • Culture & Leadership
  • Regulatory
  • Technology
  • Industry Trends

Report: Significant Training Gaps Exist for Direct Care Workers

By Joanne Kaldy / July 16, 2020

The pandemic has magnified the value of direct care workers; but they often lack the training to live up to their potential, help manage chronic conditions, and stay physically and mentally safe in a grueling job.

Training requirements for direct care workers are uneven and insufficient, according to a new report from PHI. This is complicated by federal mandates that are applicable only to some workers and varying state training regulations. The authors point to needs and opportunities to ensure consistent, appropriate training for caregivers.

In Direct Care Work Is Real Work: Elevating the Role of the Direct Care Worker, the authors observe that the “considerable differences in direct care training standards and quality across states, programs, and job titles mean that many workers lack the proper preparation to do their jobs and are left to fill these gaps on their own.” They also observe that disjointed training regulations make it difficult for workers to translate their experiences across settings, limiting career mobility and the versatility of the workforce overall.

The report authors observe that direct care training policies often fail to “capture the full complexity and scope of the demands faced by the workforce.” Among the issues that should be addressed include:

  • Physical strain. Direct care workers provide most of hands-on care delivered to residents and clients. They need training and skills for tasks such as safely lifting or transferring people. However, few caregivers have the opportunity to adequately practice physically intensive caregiving tasks before beginning work. As a result, back injuries, strained or sore muscles, and skin wounds are common among these workers.
  • Social and emotional labor. An essential part of caregivers’ work is developing relationships with clients/residents to support their emotional wellbeing. These relationships can also boost the successful delivery of more technical or clinical care. To be effective in this role, workers need training on relational skills such as communication, listening, and conflict resolution.
  • Managing complex health conditions. The growing acuity of home and post-acute care clients/residents has increased in recent years and has been exacerbated recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has heightened the complexity of service delivery in this care setting and often requires caregivers to provide chronic and serious illness support. The training gaps that need to be addressed include in-depth training/education about conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma. More general clinical skills that should receive greater attention include infection control and prevention, cultural competence, geriatric care, behavioral health, and the use of assistive and medical devices.

The authors state, “Inconsistent attention to the real work involved in direct care has contributed to poor understanding of direct care workers’ roles among the public and even among health care officials whose decisions affect this field.” They also note that labeling these jobs as “unskilled” or “low-skilled” further contributes to the limited enforcement and expansion of training standards and opportunities for direct care workers.

Related Posts

  • New Report: Direct Care Workforce Moving from Crisis to Emergency
  • Report: Workers Want, Need Tech Skills But Often Lack Training
  • Little Wage Growth for Home Care Workers in Last Decade
  • Make Training/Educational Software Hard for Workers to Resist
  • Looking Ahead: Home Care Companies Must Tackle Training Troubles

Categories: Culture & Leadership / Tags: Featured

Primary Sidebar

AROUND THE WEB

Items of interest from across the web.

  • As More States Are Legalizing Marijuana, How Should Employers Respond – HR Executive
  • Giving Thanks for Senior Living Employees, Leaders — McKnights
  • 22 States Petition CMS to End Mandate As 76% of SNF Staff Behind on Vaccines – Skilled Nursing News
  • 6 Ways to Re-energize a Depleted Team – Harvard Business Review
  • 7 Ways to Lift Up the Employees’ Morale Ahead of Holiday Season — Entrepreneur
  • Workforce, Financial Relief Focus in ‘Tumultuous Period’ After Midterms: Argentum – McKnights
  • 6 Steps to Creating More Inclusive Job Descriptions – HR Morning
  • Mental Wellbeing and Resilience: Tech + Culture to the Rescue – HR Daily Advisor
  • Employers Have ‘Flexibility Fatigue.’ But That Could Put Them on the Wrong Side of the ADA. – HR Dive(11/16) Employers Must Push Preventive Care to Inflation-Worried Staff – TLNT

View All

CONTACT INFO

Publisher: CC Andrews
440.638.6990
Editor: Joanne Kaldy

PO Box 360727
Cleveland, OH 44136

CATEGORIES

  • CULTURE & LEADERSHIP
  • RETENTION & ENGAGEMENT
  • REGULATORY
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • TRENDS IN THE INDUSTRY

Copyright © 2023 - InFrontWorkforce.com. All rights reserved.