Partnerships for an Educated Work Force to Support Senior Living

My good friend (and former New York Administrative Law Judge) Karen Miller recently had successful hip replacement surgery and I was happily amused when I realized she wasn’t home two hours before she was already corresponding with me about the latest hot topics in “aging.”  Karen is a great example of an “active mind!”

Her latest communications focused on a topic I’d also been discussing recently with Stephen Maag, Esq., Director of Residential Communities for LeadingAge.   Steve had mentioned that one of the challenges facing senior living across the board was attracting an appropriately trained and stable work force.  

Karen pointed out to me that her CCRC (or, to use the latest label, Life Plan Community) in Florida was looking into partnering with a local high school and community college to provide financial support to students as well as site-based training in senior living.  For example, Certified Nursing Assistants or CNAs may often think of hospitals or “nursing homes” as primary employers, but Karen pointed out that active senior living communities may offer far more attractive opportunities for employment, while still needing workers, such as CNAs, with specialized skills . 

Karen pointed me to an article about a similar collaborative program in Maryland already under operation:

Thanks to a partnership with Ingleside at King Farm, a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Rockville, Maryland, students get first-hand experience in senior living and caregiving while residents enjoy participating in their education. And the partnership proves mutually beneficial, providing the CCRC access to a well-trained labor supply.

 

“Having a program like this exposes the younger generation to the health care field,” Adaeze Ikeotuonye, Ingleside at King Farm’s health care administrator, tells SHN. “Not many people in high school are necessarily thinking of working in the senior living industry, but bringing them in at such a young age and letting them see what the career possibilities are—that mixes up the dynamics.”

 For more about creative partnerships to deal with caregiver shortages, read Senior Housing News’ “CCRC Helps Forge High School-to-Senior Living Career Path.”  

Thanks to Karen for this link and best wishes for continued rapid recovery.