Going from welfare to senior care
Program teaches job skills to those willing to learn
When federal welfare laws were reformed in 1996, many aid recipients were required to work or have their benefits eventually terminated. One Illinois home care company has reached out to train some of these people — in an effort that will also benefit other agencies in the area."It was a need-driven decision," says Diane Lavine, RN, executive director of Senior Care Careers. Senior Care Careers is a not-for-profit organization founded by Schaumburg-based LifeStyle Options that trains and instructs potential employees to act as homemaker companions for the elderly.
"Senior Care Careers came about because of the shortage of qualified well-trained home care workers," Lavine explains." LifeStyle Options, though, was not the only agency that would benefit from the program. "The decision was made that we should look at a program that would train people not only for LifeStyle Options, but also for other [private duty] companies."
To find potential students for the Senior Care Careers’ training, the organization turned to an Illinois Department of Public Aid program called Project Chance. "They had clients who were willing and able to work but who didn’t have the skills," she says. The Department of Public Aid screened its clients and found those who were qualified for and interested in the Senior Care Careers training.
A social/wellness model
The Senior Care Careers program is based on a social/wellness model rather than a medical model. Once participants enter the program, they undergo 80 hours of training over a two-week period. "There are two days of hands-on clinical training with a preceptor, where they are actually working with the elderly," Lavine says. "The rest is classroom training, which is didactic and uses audiovisuals and demonstrations — the whole gamut of educational tools." The program places an emphasis on communicating with and caring for the elderly.The Department of Public Aid pays for the participants’ tuition and textbooks. The department also provide a subsidy for transportation to get to the course, as well as child care if necessary. "[The department] is very involved in helping the person complete the program."
After graduating from the Senior Care Careers program, the students are entry-level homemakers and companions. They are now eligible to work for home care companies, nursing homes, or for private individuals. "They do personal assistance in terms of running errands, providing escort and companion services, light housekeeping, laundry, preparing meals, and minimal assisting with bathing and dressing, such as assisting someone into and out of a shower," Lavine says.
As of mid-June, Senior Care Careers had graduated three classes. The first class had seven students, the second class five, and the third class four. Another class started at the end of June, with six or seven people attending.
All graduates have become home care professionals, Lavine says. Many of them had had previous experience in caring for elderly family members.
"All but three or four currently work for LifeStyle Options, in assisted living facilities or in clients’ homes."
Others have gone to work for other agencies, she adds. "Some of the students prefer to work in a different kind of setting [than LifeStyle Options], or they live in an area where we don’t have clients so they go to work for another agency.
The program has been successful, Lavine says. "The students have been motivated and have done exceptionally well in the communications and relationships with the elderly."
Senior Care Careers will make three-month follow-ups of the students for a year. If they become employees of LifeStyle Options, that company does the tracking.
Lavine says the feedback from the clients has been positive. "I talked to a client of one of the most recent graduates, and he was extremely pleased with [the graduate] and the work she was doing with him. These people genuinely make a difference in their clients’ lives."
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