Archive for ‘Iowa’

We Need to Take Control of Our Health Care

Posted by on August 25th, 2009 at 12:02 pm | 1 Comment »
Ray Erickson

Ray Erickson

I have been thinking about health care reform for over a month now, wondering how to write about it without offending anyone. But no matter what I write, I’m sure it will offend someone. For this I apologize in advance.

I also want to thank all my instructors at last year’s Voices Institute. Without them, I would not be writing this now. They convinced me that one voice can make a difference, and that speaking up about what I believe may help others use their own voices to make a difference.

Some of you reading this know me personally and know that I have had quite an extensive medical history over the last 11 years. I have been one of the fortunate ones, since I can afford health insurance through my employer. Without that insurance, my wife and I would probably be medically bankrupt several times over. But a lot of our coworkers are not so lucky.

About a third care of all direct care workers can’t afford insurance, due to high premium rates and low wages. (Those low wages are a whole other issue.) How many of us go to work sick because we cannot afford to miss a day due to illness? We can’t take proper care of you or your loved ones if we’re sick ourselves – or if we’ve let a chronic condition go untreated so long that it’s gotten too back to let us work.  If you want to know more about this, PHI just published a new fact sheet (PDF) about it. Continue reading »

No Health Care Without Health Care Workers, Warns Iowa Editorial

Posted by on July 22nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm | No Comments »

des moines register 1“It’s a simple fact: Access to coverage does not equal access to care. Ask the many Iowans who already have trouble finding and keeping a health-care professional,” writes John Hale, the policy director for the Iowa CareGivers Association, in the July 14 Des Moines Register.

In “Health Care Won’t Improve Without Enough Workers,” Hale says Iowa is ahead of most states in documenting and addressing the growing health care worker shortage. However, he argues, the state can’t fix the problem on its own: The federal government needs to help.

Hale’s editorial lists several things the federal government can do. The most important, he says, to “give this looming crisis the sense of urgency it deserves and provide funds to the states to allow them to act.” The health care reform bills currently being considered in Congress, he adds, provide “an opportunity to deal proactively with the health- and long-term-care work force that each of us depends on.”

Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance

House Health Care Bill Amendment Would Support Direct Care Workforce

Posted by on July 21st, 2009 at 11:35 pm | 1 Comment »
Rep. Dave Loebsack

Rep. Dave Loebsack

An amendment added to the House Education and Labor Committee’s version of the health care reform bill would mandate three kinds of support for the direct care workforce, including new core competencies for personal and home care aides.

“The voices of direct care workers are being heard,” says DCA National Advocacy Director Roy Gedat. “Health care reform is providing an opportunity to make some much-needed improvements to direct care jobs.”

The amendment (PDF) was introduced by Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) at the encouragement of PHI and the Iowa CareGivers Association.

Continue reading »

DCA Publishes Fact Sheets for Direct Care Worker Advocates and their Allies

Posted by on June 25th, 2009 at 10:56 am | No Comments »

A full set of DCA Direct Care Fact Sheets, one for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is now available in the Resources section of our website.

The one-page sheets were created as a resource for direct care worker advocates and their allies, legislators, policymakers, members of the media, and others interested in direct care issues. They include key facts such as:

  •   The number of home health aides, nursing assistants, and personal and home care aides in the state in 2006 and the projected numbers of each in 2016
  •   The average hourly wage for the state’s direct care workers
  •   What percentage of direct care workers in that state or region are without health insurance

Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance

An Inside Look at the Voices Institute National Training

Posted by on April 14th, 2009 at 9:45 am | 1 Comment »
We're working on personal empowerment. That's me standing in the background.

We're working on personal empowerment. That's me standing in the background.

Hello, fellow direct care workers.

Helping to plan the DCA’s Voices Institute National Leadership Training this year is making me think about last year’s training. I want to tell you what that was like, in case you’re thinking of joining us this year.

Last year’s training was at the Dekoven Center in Racine, Wisconsin – the same place where it will be this year. The Dekoven Center is on a 20-acre, wooded campus on the shore of Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. It’s a beautiful place, but there wasn’t much time to enjoy the scenery. A few of us took walks every morning at 6, and we had a few classes outside, but that was about it.

They said it would be a retreat. When I think of a retreat, I think of relaxation and kicking back. Boy, was I wrong about this one! We started classes every day at 9 and finished at 5 or later. Some nights, we didn’t get done till 7. It was really worthwhile – it’s a good training – but it was intense. You’re there to learn.

Continue reading »

ICA Asks Lawmakers to Expand Health Care Coverage for DCWs

Posted by on February 11th, 2009 at 4:55 pm | No Comments »

The Iowa CareGivers Association reminded state lawmakers of the need to expand health care coverage for direct care workers at a January 26 ICA Day at the Capitol event.

ICA members handed out yo-yos to state lawmakers, explaining that “yo-yo” is an acronym for “you’re on your own,” which is what the lawmakers would be telling elders and people with disabilities if they didn’t support efforts to improve access to health care.

“People are beginning to talk about health care access and workforce issues in the same sentence. I think they’re finally beginning to realize that access to health and long-term care services at any level is not possible without those people who are working on the front lines.” said Di Findley, executive director of the Iowa CareGivers Association, in an interview with WHO Radio in Des Moines.

The event was also covered in a legislative roundup in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier.

Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance

Voices Institute Alumni Keep the Fire Lit

Posted by on October 21st, 2008 at 12:08 pm | No Comments »

voices-institute-group-shot1There is no question that the 22 direct care workers who participated in the very successful Voices Institute leadership training retreat in the spring of 2008 became a tight-knit core group of direct care worker advocates. We still discuss the impact that this experience has had on our lives and how we will never forget the incredible growth that took place. As a group, we are building a grassroots movement bit-by-bit with passion and determination.

On October 20, eight of our alumni gathered for our first follow-up conference call. We learned about some exciting things that our group has been working on:

Ray Erickson had just given a speech to close to a 100 people at the Iowa CareGivers Association Annual Meeting.

His wife, Vicki Erickson, had recently sat in on a forum with local legislators for a couple of hours.

Jackie Merkle spoke about her efforts to develop organizational relationships with the Long-Term Care Alliance. One person in her group is working on legislative activities, such as a position paper to try to move forward with legislation. She also shared some frustrations she’s had around trying to generate interest among direct care workers by going through providers, who sometimes are not receptive to her message.

Lorenzo Raffa talked about Maine PASA’s conference, which attracted 1,500 attendees. John Booker, the Chair of the Direct Care Alliance, was the keynote speaker. Vicki Erickson of the ICA spoke about her Voices Institute experience. Roy Gedat, the National Advocacy Director for the Direct Care Alliance, was also present.

Continue reading »

Voices Institute Graduate Makes a Splash in Iowa

Posted by on October 21st, 2008 at 6:55 am | No Comments »

ray_ericksonI was asked to speak at the Iowa CareGivers Association’s annual meeting in Des Moines this week. My topic was Recognition: A National Voice. I thought you might like to hear what I said.

Good Evening,

My name is Ray Erickson. I am a Certified Medication Aide in an 88-bed SNF. I have worked the last 22 ½ years in the health care industry. I got my start just after my 17th birthday, when I enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserves in Sioux City. I spent two years serving my country in the reserves as a navy corpsman. I have spent the last twenty years working in nursing facilities. Just this last week, I celebrated my fifteenth year at my current facility.

I am also an EMT-B here in the state of Iowa. I also have a CNA and Restorative Aide certification.

I joined ICA in the fall of 2002 with my wife, Vicki Erickson, who is a member of the Direct Care Worker Leadership Council. During the last year, I have taken the ICA Leadership program in Boone. 

In May of this year, I had the honor to represent Iowa at the National Level by attending DCA’s Voices Institute leadership training in Racine, Wisconsin, with Vicki. We went through an intensive training for five days. During those five days, we were taught many ways on preparing speeches, public speaking, and working with multiple stakeholders. It was interesting seeing 25 people from 12 different states coming together for one cause, advocating for the direct care worker, consumer, and employer. We all have to work together as a team to make direct care a more fulfilling profession.

Continue reading »

Iowa CareGivers repond to the IOM report

Posted by on June 6th, 2008 at 10:40 am | No Comments »

May 14, 2008

Institute of Medicine
500 Fifth Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Dear Interested Parties:

The purposes of this letter are to: 1) commend the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the recently released report on the health and long term care workforce entitled “Retooling Health Care Workforce for Aging Americans,” and 2) offer comments from the direct care worker (DCW) perspective.

Many of us have been working on health and long term care workforce issues for a number of years and your efforts certainly bring credibility to the urgent and critical nature of these complex issues.

The Iowa CareGivers Association (ICA) was founded in 1992 as an independent nonprofit association with its sole focus on bringing stability to the direct care workforce by providing education, recognition, advocacy, and research in their support. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that we are very pleased to see an entire section within the report devoted to the direct care workforce.

Continue reading »

Ask Di: How do you put on a Statewide Direct Care Worker Conference?

Posted by on February 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm | 2 Comments »
Di Findley

Di Findley

The DCA recently engaged Iowa CareGivers Association Executive Director Di Findley to develop tools and materials to assist with the development of direct care worker associations. One feature we are previewing today are questions posed to Di from around the country.

Here’s the first one:

Di,

Do you have any tips we can use on how to set up a state direct care worker conference? For instance, is there a uniform fashion? Do you pay speakers to present and workers/agencies to participate? Do you do contracts? How is the venue chosen? Any suggestions you might offer will be most appreciated.

Thank you

Di’s Response:

While your question is about how to plan a ‘statewide’ conference…there is nothing magical about going statewide. In fact, you might want to consider doing something much smaller…a county or regional conference. Starting small provides you a testing ground. Our first conference was not statewide.

Having said that…..We begin planning every year in January for a September conference.

We begin planning our conference every year in January for September. Our conference has evolved over the years. Our first year we had less than 40 people attend and each year it has grown. Last year we had 327 attend and 150 attended the two day conference on scholarship.

Continue reading »

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