May 3, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contacts: Lauren Shaham, AAHSA, 202-508-1219
Linda Barbarotta, BJBC, 202-508-1209

New Issue Brief Offers Ways to Improve Respect and Retention in Long-term Care Workforce

Washington, D.C. - Building a foundation of respect in the long-term care workplace can increase direct care worker job satisfaction and retention and help providers embrace the growing racial and cultural diversity of their frontline staff, according to a new issue brief from Better Jobs Better Care (BJBC).

The brief examines the behaviors that lead long-term care workers to feel a lack of respect in the workplace and provides examples of organizations that succeeded in creating more understanding, supportive and positive work environments. These organizations built respect through supportive supervision, peer mentoring and team building; career advancements and educational opportunities and encouraging communication and understanding. Here are a few examples:

Nurses at Colorado's Loveland Good Samaritan Home, took part in a training program to improve their communication with certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Now, the CNAs there are participating in peer mentorship and training programs.

Staff members from Cedars in Portland, Maine, used the lessons from a coaching supervision training to empower direct care workers and support staff to shape new and better ways of providing quality care

At La Posada at Park Centre retirement community in Green Valley, Ariz., a resident started an award-winning education programs that offers employees scholarships, tutoring in English as a Second Language and help preparing for high school equivalency and U.S. citizenship exams.

The Service Employees International Union, representing 14,000 home care workers in San Francisco's In-Home Supportive Services program, offers workers ESL training, citizenship support and leadership development opportunities in English, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

"The growing racial and cultural diversity among direct care workers makes the need to develop respectful workplaces more urgent than ever before," explains Ingrid McDonald, M.P.P., consultant to the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute and issue brief author. "Even in today's difficult labor market, providers who make respect a priority in their workplace will thrive."

The brief ends with six practical suggestions providers can use to build respect in their organizations:

• Take a relationship inventory
• Listen to what workers say about respect
• Identify changes necessary to "operationalize respect"
• Think in terms of maximizing human potential
• Understand the needs of new immigrants and non-English speakers.
• Commit to making continuous improvements

"When staff don't feel respected by their supervisors, their co-workers or the residents or clients they serve, they are more likely to leave their job," said Robyn Stone, Dr.P.H., BJBC project director, executive director of the Institute for the Future of Aging Services (IFAS) and senior vice president of research at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. "Creating respectful workplaces isn't just about increasing retention. It's the right thing to do."

To order the issue brief, call (202)508-1216. The brief is also available on the BJBC Web site, www.bjbc.org.

Better Jobs Better Care is a four-year, $15.5 million research and demonstration program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies. Its goal is to achieve changes in long-term care policy and practice that help reduce high vacancy and turnover rates among direct care workers in long-term care and contribute to improved workforce quality. Technical assistance is provided in partnership with the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI).