The New Mexico Direct Caregivers Coalition is seeking its first executive director. The organization, which was founded last year, is headed by a 10-member board of directors all of whom are direct care workers.
To apply, send a cover letter and resume to nmexchange@aol.com by March 3.
Job description (PDF)
A scholarship for caregivers will be awarded this spring to a professional caregiver for seniors or adults with disabilities in Vermont. The first annual Linda Andersen Caregiver Scholarship, named in honor of a long-time caregiver who passed away suddenly last year, is being presented by Armistead Caregiver Services in conjunction with the Community of Vermont Elders (COVE).
“We want to honor Linda’s dedication to seniors, her teammates and Armistead with this $1,000 scholarship. We also want to honor caregiving as a career by making access to education and training a little easier,” says Rachel Lee Cummings, President of Armistead. COVE will administer the scholarship, collecting and reviewing applications and making the award decision.
Applicants must have at least two years of caregiving experience, be at least 18 years old, and be a legal resident of Vermont. The winner must apply the money toward education or training related to the caregiver field, such as conflict management, gerontology, psychology, nursing, or medical school.
The scholarship will be awarded in April.
Helen Hanson
Well, our report is complete, but it has not yet been presented to the Legislature.
As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, I am part of a team that was appointed by the state of Maine to recommend ways that the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee could streamline long-term care service delivery, address equalities in the services provided, and hopefully gain some cost savings, which can be passed on to workers in the form of livable wages and benefits such as paid time off and health care coverage. We finished our work in early January, and the report was supposed to be released later that month.
But I just learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has put it on the back burner instead. Continue reading »
Bob Stevens
In my seven years as a direct care worker, my profession has brought fulfillment and satisfaction to my life.
These are my rewards:
How could I reasonably ask for more?
See my next blog post for the answer – or tell me what you think by commenting below.
Bob Stevens
Direct Support Professional/Senior Caregiver
Graduate, 2009 Voices Institute National Leadership Program
President Obama
In his State of the Union Address last Tuesday, President Obama reiterated that his Administration’s #1 priority is to create more jobs and get our economy back on track. He also challenged Congress: “Don’t walk away from health care reform.”
The DCA applauds the President’s call to action. With more than a quarter of all direct care workers lacking health insurance, making quality health care affordable for all Americans remains our top priority. We’re also working to get direct care on the job creation agenda, so some of that funding will go to improve the quality of direct care jobs, ensuring that we can satisfy consumer demand for a stable, well-qualified workforce.
Direct care jobs are expected to be among the fastest growing occupations in the USA over the next decade. That means our nation is facing a crucial choice. We can continue to tolerate low-paying, poor-quality jobs that swell the ranks of the working poor and lead to poor care. Or we can invest in the direct care workforce. Continue reading »
As part of its annual Best Nursing Homes issue this month, U.S. News and World Report includes a feature on how culture change can transform a nursing home into a good place to live by respecting residents and fitting care plans and schedules to their individual needs – and by empowering caregivers and nurturing their relationships with the residents.
The feature begins with an anecdote about a man who loves to visit his mother at the home, Evergreen Retirement Community in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, because of “the easy warmth of the nurses and aides,” who he says are like “kid sisters” or his own daughters.” Continue reading »
Martha Stewart
“Whether or not you care about older people, you will, if you’re lucky, be one of them. It’s not just a demographic. It’s personal — it’s you, your parents, your aunts, uncles, friends and children. We need to do a better job caring for this population — and supporting those who care for them,” writes Martha Stewart in a January 20 post in the Huffington Post.
Stewart notes the absence of any discussion about that fast-growing population in the coverage of the health care bill, saying “We, as a nation, are utterly unprepared for this rapidly approaching ‘silver tsunami.’” She calls for better geriatric training for medical professionals and better support for family caregivers.
Stewart also endorses the CLASS Act, noting that it would provide people with cash for home care, adult day programs, assisted living, or nursing homes. “We must not lose sight of a pressing need for solutions that will offer older adults and their families some financial protection,” she writes.
Stewart is the founder of the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mt. Sinai.
David Moreau
The staff are good at this one.
Each participant’s annual meeting
starts with Strengths, which we skip
over quickly and Needs, which we use
to make hab plans, such as, Donnie will refrain
from talking to people he doesn’t know
on ninety percent of recorded occasions
for three consecutive months, or,
Sophie will report to group on time…. Continue reading »
Marilyn Daniel helps Classie Morant (L) prepare for her sister's funeral.
In two moving multimedia presentations that meld photos and captions with spoken memories, the Washington Post has fleshed out the story of the elderly sisters introduced in an earlier feature. Marilyn Daniel’s Reward brought to life the importance of direct care work through telling the story of Daniel, a compassionate home health aide. One of her clients was Rozzie Laney, who passed away at the age of 92. Rozzie’s primary caregiver was her 104-year-old sister, Clarice “Classie” Morant.
No Greater Love shows how Classie took care of her sister during her last days. Sweet Dreams is about Rozzie’s death, on New Year’s Eve 2008.
Evelyn Coke
The DCA’s battle for justice for home care workers got a powerful assist on January 29 when a New York Times editorial called on President Obama to right the wrong that leaves home care workers without minimum wage and overtime protections under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. If he does not do so, the editorial urges the Congress to pass a bill named for Evelyn Coke, the home care aide whose challenge to that injustice made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Lilly and Evelyn” points out that the first bill President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which overturned a Supreme Court decision denying a woman restitution for having been paid her less than her male colleagues for years. “It is past time for Mr. Obama to see that similar justice is done for Evelyn Coke,” the editorial states. Continue reading »
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