Page 18 - Healthcare News Mar/Apr 2022

AGING OF AMERICA CONT’D “
hard and often stressful work, but it’s also meaning- “These workers in this direct-care workforce right ful and rewarding work, and one way to tilt the scale now are assisting people with multiple chronic con- toward the latter is better training. ditions,” she went on. “People are living longer, and
“Massachusetts is just one of a handful of states they are living with a variety of conditions. So I think in the country that hasn’t updated the training stan- the training could be enhanced to include more dards since 1989,” she said. “When they came into knowledge about the body systems, how they work, place, we required 75 hours of training for a nursing how we age, what it means to become frail, what is
assistant or a home health aide, 60 hours of training for a personal-care homemaker, and no training at all for a PCA. We call it a consumer-directed pro- gram, which means that the consumer gets to direct their care.
“But I would advocate strongly for training for these PCAs who enter the home of an individual who may have very complex needs and, in fact, are allowed to do more to provide medication assistance, maybe assistance with other medical appliances – again, without training and without support.
multi-system frailty, and to embrace the dependency that comes with aging.”
The state needs to step in, she added, with legisla- tive measures to make it easier to get the proper training, or to “modularize” the training to make it easier for people to enter the workforce.
“Maybe you’re caring for a family member, and you could use some training, but you don’t need to take a 100-hour training or 75-hour training and become certified. Maybe you just need to learn how to manage diabetes or reposition a person.”
We’re really
putting a lot
of effort into
preventive care,
and we’ve done
quality projects
through the years ELAINE FLUET
to document that we were able to prevent hospitalizations, so it’s really an important and cost- effective model going forward to continue to support elders in the
community.”
No Place Like Home
Elaine Fluet, recently retired president and CEO of Care Central VNA and Hospice Inc., said the model of caring for elders in community settings through adult day health is an important part of the elder-care landscape, and of keeping seniors in their homes.
“We’re really putting a lot of effort into preven-
“We’re not able to get people into long- term care when they need more care if they don’t have family around. We’re not able to get people into rehab for respite so the family can have a break or go out of town for a wedding. It’s very real, and it’s affecting people’s lives every day.’
DR. RACHEL BROUDY
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18 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM MARCH/APRIL 2022