Help Wanted-In-Home Caregivers; No Training Required?

We have blogged on several occasions about the myriad issues regarding caregiving in the U.S. Kaiser Health News ran an interesting story last week about the training (or lack thereof) of caregivers.  Lots Of Responsibility For In-Home Care Providers — But No Training Required focuses on the topic of  the growing need for in-home caregivers and training them

The need for in-home caregivers is rising as the elderly and disabled population grows. The demand for personal aides – most of whom work in the home — is expected to increase by 37% over the next decade, requiring about 1.3 million new positions, according to research published last year by the New-York based Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, an advocacy group that also provides training.

Training requirements are left to the states and there is significant variance, according to the story, which used California as an example. California’s program “In-Home Supportive Services Program” or IHSS, according to the article  is the largest “publicly funded home care program” in the country and has a significant percentage of caregivers related to the elders needing care. Although the caregivers are employed to provide chores around the home and personal care, because so many of the clients are at least 80 or older and have dementia or multiple health problems, the caregivers find themselves in expanded roles where they perform some medical care.  When the caregivers are in that situation, they are supposed to be trained and ok’d by a health care professional, but the state doesn’t support the training or compensate the caregivers for going through it.

But, as the article notes, the purpose of the California program was to allow the clients to direct their care, which as their health declines, may not remain possible.  The state does offer online training for those caregivers who voluntarily seek it.  The article goes on to discuss the complex issues in requiring caregiver training

Relatives, who make up nearly three-quarters of paid IHSS caregivers, often say they know what is best for their loved ones. And clients are inclined to trust family members and say they can instruct them on what they need.

Different states are trying variations on training; for example in 2012 Washington State started requiring 75 hours of training for in-home caregivers and under the ACA, California, along with a few other states, has received grants totaling nearly $15 million “to recruit and train qualified caregivers for the elderly and disabled populations.”

The article also features an audio version and includes the stories of several caregivers.