Health reform facts 2: Pre-existing condition insurance plan. PHI. July 2010.

This fact sheet explains the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), a featured component of the federal health reform legislation signed into law in 2010. Uninsured Americans who have pre-existing health conditions will be able to more easily obtaining health coverage through the PCIP. Direct-care workers who have chronic health conditions, illnesses, or suffer from work-related injuries will especially benefit from the program.

Fighting their way to patients: Home care continuity in an emergency event. Yarkony, Lisa. May 2010. Caring National Association for Home Care & Hospice.

This feature article describes the Visiting Nurse Service of New York's efforts to deliver home care to New Yorkers during the 2005 transit-worker strike. The article emphasizes that good communication among workers and a well-defined emergency plan were crucial in getting home care workers out to clients' homes for their regularly scheduled visits.

The impact of worker health on long term care: Implications for nursing managers. Letvak, Susan, and Christopher J. Ruhm. May/June 2010. Geriatric Nursing, Vol. 31 No. 3. Elsevier.

This article affirms that that direct-care worker ''presenteeism'' -- when a worker is sick or has a chronic health condition, yet still goes to work -- is a greater drain on productivity than absenteeism. Direct-care workers are especially prone to presenteeism, since they have little to no health benefits, and are often given no paid sick days. The article suggests numerous ways that supervisors of direct-care workers can support their employees, thereby reducing presenteeism.

Strengthening the direct care workforce: Preliminary recommendations from a national panel of experts in long-term care. Noelker, Linda S., et al.. Winter/Spring 2010. Public Policy & Aging Report, Vol. 20 No. 1. National Academy on an Aging Society.

This article outlines the preliminary recommendations made by a panel of long-term care experts convened by the Benjamin Rose Institute on behalf of the Institute of Medicine. The panel was tasked with devising ways to strengthen the direct-care workforce. Some of the recommendations include: increasing the supply of direct-care workers by bolstering recruiting efforts; advocating for more intensive federal and state training requirements; and instituting higher standards of evaluation for direct-care workers.

Health reform facts 1: Workforce development and training opportunities for direct-care workers. PHI. June 2010.

This fact sheet describes numerous ways that that 2010 health reform law may have a positive impact on the direct-care workforce. It describes several new workforce commissions, federal training grants, and workforce-development programs that will be created as a result of health reform. The fact sheet is the first in a planned series, published by PHI, detailing health reform's effect on the direct-care workforce.

Neglecting the importance of the decision making and care regimes of personal support workers: A critique of standardization of care planning through the RAI/MDS. Kontos, Pia C., Karen-Lee Miller, and Gail J. Mitchell. June 2010. Gerontologist, Vol. 50 No. 3. Gerontological Society of America.

This article presents a survey of personal support workers in Canada. The survey questions were designed to ascertain those workers' relationship with the Resident Assessment Instrument-Minimum Data Set (RAI/MDS), a process that provides the framework for care planning in nursing homes. The survey found that personal support workers' contributions to care are often not recognized by the standardized RAI/MDS categories. It also found that personal support workers are underappreciated generally in the health care field.

Role for a labor-management partnership in nursing home person-centered care. Leutz, Walter, Christine E. Bishop, and Lisa Dodson. June 2010. Gerontologist, Vol. 50 No. 3. Gerontological Society of America.

This article summarizes a study of labor-management partnerships in nursing homes. Specifically, it assesses whether such partnerships are effective in instilling the values of person-centered care into nursing-home culture. The study concludes that those partnerships do, in fact, play a large role in facilitating culture change. The participation of labor unions ensures that workers' views and needs are reflected in any changes that nursing homes might undergo while becoming more person-centered.

Strengthening the direct service workforce in rural areas. Brown, D. Kip, and Sarah Lash. September 2009. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center.

This report states that long-term care providers in rural areas generally have a tougher time recruiting and retaining direct-care workers than their urban counterparts. The report suggests numerous ways that the direct-care workforce in rural areas can be strengthened, including the establishment of worker-owned cooperatives, improved access to transportation, and internet-based training courses. An appendix lists even more resources -- including reports, case studies, and academic resources -- aimed at developing rural direct-care workforces.

Women are the backbone of American caregiving. Dawson, Steven L.. March/April 2010. Aging Today, Vol. 31 No. 2. American Society on Aging.

This article describes the overwhelmingly female direct-care workforce in the U.S. -- a workforce that is aging along with the rest of the population. By 2018, the percentage of direct-care workers age 55 and older could be as high as 30 percent. The article concludes by noting that with better training and improved job design, older female direct-care workers can reach their full potential to address the U.S.'s caregiving needs.