NEWS

Healthcare Georgia Grantees Convene at the Rosalynn Carter Institute

In 2007, The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving became part of a set of grantees in Georgia challenged with the task of improving the skills of both paid and family caregivers in our state. This major workforce development initiative was launched by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation.

The Healthcare Georgia Foundation was created in 1999 as an independent, private foundation. The Healthcare Georgia Foundation’s mission is to advance the health of all Georgians and to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare for underserved individuals and communities.

The RCI along with three additional Healthcare Georgia grantees met in Americus on February 7 to discuss their individual projects, to identify opportunities and challenges as it relates to long-term care home and community-based services, and to collaborate on ideas for workforce development in the field.

The meeting facilitator was Ann Rosewater, Consultant and former Regional Director of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Rosewater is the author of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation publication, Health Voices - Home and Community-Based Services: A Robust, Rational and Ready System for Georgians.

In addition to the RCI, the other Healthcare Georgia workforce development grantees are:

The Institute of Gerontology (IOG) at the University of Georgia

This grantee will strengthen the quality of home and community-based services by providing web-based training for formal caregivers (home health aides) and informal caregivers (family members and friends) in Georgia. The grant will support: 1) the establishment of a web site to serve as a portal to online training and education modules; 2) the development of an online and DVD Aging 101 module; and 3) implementation of an initiative to improve continuing education standards for home and community-based service providers.

Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health

This grantee will analyze a survey of 2,500 nursing aides in Georgia and to disseminate the survey findings to home and community-based service providers and key informants. The project will analyze data collected from the surveys of nursing aides across Georgia, on their work history, turnover rates, job satisfaction, knowledge and skills and attitudes toward training. The analysis of the surveys will provide insights on the factors that affect job satisfaction and turnover, two elements that affect the availability and quality of home and community-based services for people with disabilities and the elderly.

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC)
The ARC will provide a training curriculum to direct care workers supervisors/management staff and to establish a “Taking Care” coalition in metropolitan Atlanta. The project will provide supervisors and management staff of direct care workers with training on best practice strategies to improve management skills and motivational techniques for employees.

The RCI and the other grantees will convene again at the annual Healthcare Georgia meeting to report on the progress of each project.