Wellness Customer Service and Home Health Aide Status Report 3 April 30 2010

SECTORS GRANT EXTENSION STATUS REPORT 3: COMMUNITY WELLNESS CUSTOMER SERVICE/SOFT SKILLS TRAINING PERSONAL AND HOME CARE AIDES Submitted to: Sandra M Steiner, Executive Director Adams County Education Consortium 12050 Pecos Street Suite 200 Westminster, CO 80234-3493 Submitted by: Judith Cohen Market Views, LLC 1489 Steele Street #212 Denver, CO 80206 April 30, 2010 HIGHLIGHTS Community Wellness     A meeting of representatives of Adams County school wellness programs took place on April 27 and was attended by 11 people Attendees shared information about their programs They were interested in further meetings and identified areas for further activity Kimberly Zollinger from the Colorado Legacy Foundation agreed to coordinate additional gatherings; Joanne Holden from the Tri-County Health Department will work with her Customer Service /Soft Skills Training     We developed a list of potential topics for a half-day customer service course for healthcare supervisors We e-mailed selected healthcare agencies to solicit their responses to the idea; two agencies indicated interest in having employees attend this course We spoke with officials from Front Range Community College and Community College of Aurora about offering a customer service class for healthcare supervisors A curriculum developer from Front Range Community College is available to create a course outline and teach this course Personal and Home Care Aides    On April 21-22, we visited the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale Arkansas with the director of home care services from Christian Living Communities and a care manager from Seniors Inc We observed four hours of instruction in an Elder Pal class (the first level of certification for home care aides) and met with program and foundation staff Both industry representatives felt strongly that it would be beneficial to home and personal care aides to have the kind of training offered in Elder Pal before they go into patients’ homes Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report THE GRANT EXTENSION PROVIDES US THE CHANCE TO PURSUE THREE AREAS Community Wellness Goal: to improve the wellness of children and families Expected outcome: an alignment of intention and support that may result in      Curriculum creation and sharing Possible new occupation identification – community healthcare worker Enhanced family support for wellness activities Science and math applications for academic instruction that will also teach wellness concepts Verification of the effectiveness of the best programs available for community wellness Research Activities Existing curricula that have evidence-based positive results The agencies/organizations that are currently doing work in this area The resources available to community/schools/workforce/social services Existing wellness community/school programs and curricula Results On April 27, 2010, we held a meeting of representatives from organizations that provide school wellness programs in Adams County A copy of the invitiation is attached to this report as Appendix A The following agencies were invited: Adams 12 BASE and Nutrition Adams 14 School Health Coordinator Aurora Chamber of Commerce Brighton Schools Nutrition Services Children's Hospital Community Health Services Colorado Association of School Executives Colorado Department of Education Colorado Legacy Foundation Denver Museum of Nature and Science Get Smart Schools Mapleton Schools Food Service Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report Partners for Community Health Tri-County Health Department University of Colorado School of Medicine YMCA of Metro Denver Invitation recipients forwarded the information to additional agencies The following individuals attended the meeting:            Emily Jacobs, School Health Coordinator, Adams 14, Healthy Schools Colorado Kim Zollinger, Health and Wellness Consultant, Colorado Legacy Foundation Jana Wright, Health Literacy and Education Coordinator, Partnerships for Healthy Communities Chris Sjolin, Adams 12 BASE and Nutrition Joanne Holden, Tri-County Health Department Linda James, YMCA of Metro Denver Debbie LaMarre, The Pinnacle Charter School Eileen Mosher, The Pinnacle Charter School Rainey Wickstrom, Partnerships for Healthy Communities Wendy Peters Moschette, Farm to School Initiative Caryn Tomasjewica, Health at Work The agenda included: I Introductions a Welcome, Sandy Steiner, Executive Director, Adams County Education Consortium b Participant introductions, two minute program descriptions (complete grid on page 2) Participant name Program name Clients Services offered Funding II What else needs to be done to improve wellness in Adams County: Unmet needs that can be met with school programs a Available resources that could meet these needs Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report b Additional resources needed III Ongoing communication among school wellness programs Participants shared activities from a wide range of school wellness programs Of the 11 people in attendance, four work for school districts (Adams 12, Adams 14, and The Pinnacle Charter School) and the rest work with nonprofit or other consulting organizations providing programs to schools Joanne Holden from the Tri-County Health Department talked about mini-grants that will be available to the schools as part of the larger wellness grant the Department recently received The discussion about what else needs to be done to improve wellness in Adams county took several directions Participants considered ways to improve coordination among the diverse departments that share responsibility for wellness: nutrition services, physical education, health services, and human resources with its mandate to improve employee wellness We also discussed the benefits to each school or school district of selecting one wellness goal at a time Suggested goals were increasing the amount of time children in school have to eat, eliminating food rewards, and scheduling recess before lunch Several participants named areas where participants could advocate for changes in wellness policies at the federal level Participants acknowledged the benefit of learning about each others’ programs There is general interest in continuing to meet and in reaching out to more school district representatives Continued meetings need to be clearly targeted It was suggested that the next meeting discuss ways to select one goal, perhaps from a suggested list of several goals, and implement that goal Kimberly Zollinger, health and wellness coordinator for the Colorado Legacy Foundation, volunteered to coordinate additional meetings Joanne Holden from Tri-County Health Department will work with her These meetings would aim to include all of the persons responsible for wellness within the school districts as well as the nonprofits and consultants currently working with the schools The Colorado Legacy Foundation would Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report use these meetings as a pilot project to demonstrate how to improve coordination within the school wellness community Customer Service/ Soft Skills Training Goal: Improve the customer service and soft skills of newly hired and incumbent healthcare workers Expected outcome: One or more classes to be offered to healthcare workers Research Activities Industry documentation of need School review of existing curricula Investigation into a more role-play/interactive form of instruction that would be made available at HS and post-secondary levels and to incumbent employees Results We are exploring the feasibility of offering a seminar to give healthcare supervisors tools to help their frontline employees in providing good customer service The following e-mail was sent to fifteen managers in healthcare facilities, primarily in long term care Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report I have spoken with you during the past few months about whether your organization has any difficulty filling certain job openings and your need for customer service training for your current employees Research indicates that supervisors and managers agree that healthcare workers need better customer service skills My research has been conducted using grant funds from the Colorado Department of Labor under the auspices of a consortium of local workforce organizations In response to this identified need, we are considering sponsoring a half-day training session in May for supervisors in healthcare organizations on providing ongoing customer service training and coaching for employees Customer service trainings that most organizations provide usually produce mediocre results at best because they aim at finding the quick fix Sending the troops in for a day of generic service training may be an immediate way of communicating to employees the importance of improving their behavior, but it ignores the critical role that managers play in supporting employee performance.(Gail Scott, Journal of Healthcare Management, November 2001) We envision a low cost class (Under $30) that would cover:  Defining quality service with meaningful metrics  Identifying what is in it for employees to change their customer service behavior  Constructive feedback as a coaching tool  Employee meeting “service warm-ups”  Role playing  Patients and families giving feedback in training sessions At this point we are trying to determine interest in this training Would you send one or more supervisors to this training session? If yes, how many would you send? What other topics should be included? What are the best days of the week or month and times for half day training sessions? Who is the best contact person in your organization for training like this? Thank you for your response and for all the good work you for patients, families, and our community When no-one responded, we personally called four of the contacts One nursing home indicated that the class was not needed One manager of many nursing homes discussed the idea with her management team and people from three nursing homes and one marketing manager indicated interest Some asked to bring more than one person Two additional contacts expressed interest but did not commit specific individuals to attending Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report Andrea Crane, a curriculum developer and health care faculty member from Front Range Community College is available to help write the curriculum for this course and to teach it A tentative date of June has been set to deliver a four hour class Judith Cohen and Andrea Crane are writing a detailed course outline that will be reviewed before moving forward Front Range Community College may be able to offer some credit for the course The Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aged is willing to make course flyers available at its annual meeting in May Contacts              Nancy Case, Dean of Health Sciences, Community College of Aurora Bernice Harris, Vice President of Instruction, Community College of Aurora Julie Beggs, Director of Continuing Education, Front Range Community College Andrea Crane, Instructor and Curriculum Developer, Front Range Community College Sarah Bogucki, Human Resources Coordinator, Piñon Management Jennifer Rutledge, Piñon Management Kathy Mekelburg, Administrator, Fairacres Manor Maxine Roby, Administration, Rowan Community Jane Runge, Sales and Marketing Specialist, Piñon Management Piper Knight, Staff Development Coordinator, Clear Creek Kelly Denning, HR Specialist/Director, Christian Living Communities Mary Katherine James, Director, National Federation of Licensed Practical Nurses Laura Landwirth, Executive Director, Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aged (CAHSA) Personal and Home Care Aides Goal: Improve the quality of care and the job situation of the uncredentialed persons providing care to the elderly and disabled in their own homes Expected outcome:   Training for personal care providers that articulates to other healthcare careers Certification for personal care providers Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report Research Activities Identify minimum competencies Validate employer support for a minimum certification by employees Develop approved training programs at educational institutions that would offer transferable credit for this healthcare area of study Results On April 20, Judith Cohen; Lisa Braun, home care director, Christian Living Communities; and Shana Long, care manager, Seniors Inc flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma, spent the night, and drove the next morning to Springdale, Arkansas to visit the Schmieding (pronounced shmeeding) Center for Senior Health and Education (www.schmiedingcenter.org) The Schmieding Center offers primary care, consultation, and rehabilitation for older adults in addition to the programs that interested us: education for elder caregivers Appendix B contains information on additional programs available at the Schmieding Center The drawing below outlines the home caregiver training available through the Schmieding Center.1 At the airport, l to r, Lisa, Judith, Shana There is an error on this chart There are only 15 hours required for the dementia training Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report This home caregiver program includes a total of 115 classroom hours The Arkansas requirement for Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) is 90 hours which includes a required 15 hours of dementia training The Colorado requirement is 86 hours The program emphasizes three elements:  Safety  Skills  Compassion On our first afternoon in Arkansas, we spent four hours observing an Elder Pal class The class had 12 students, one classroom instructor, and three instructors supervising the skills practice The Elder Pal class is given during a single week It combines lecture, video, and hands-on learning The videos not only show how to these specific skills, they constantly reinforce values such as respect for patients, telling patients what the caregiver is about to Page | SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report do, and cleaning up afterward The Center includes a model apartment with two elderly manikins, Gerald and Geraldine Students practice skills such as foot care, showers, and hair washing in the apartment The Schmieding Elder Pal class covers most, but not all, of the Colorado State training requirements for home care assistants However, the majority of Schmieding students complete the entire four-part course, leading to a CNA The Center screens applicants before admitting them into the program They look for reading competency, judged Schmieding Center Home Caregiver Training by ability to fill out the application Course Cost Course form and additional questionnaire Hours They need to know basic addition and Elder Pal $100 25 multiplication They are asked to Personal Care Assistant $100 25 provide three references Home Care Assistant $150 50 Dementia $75 15 Students in the home caregiver classes pay the tuition themselves The Center is just beginning to investigate the possibility of getting Workforce Investment Act (WIA) money to pay for their classes There is a student handbook for each caregiver level Students pay $15 for each manual Classes also use Mosby’s Textbook for Nursing Assistants The Center owns these books and lends them to students Each course ends with a written final exam where students need a score of 80 percent or higher to pass The compentency tests are pass/fail If they pass both the written exam and the competency tests, they are awarded a certificate Graduates earn between $10 and $12 per hour They are eligible to be listed in the Caregiver Directory This directory indicates the level of training completed, preferred work hours, and preferred work location It also Page | 10 SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report includes some suggestions on how to hire a caregiver Caregivers need to get 12 hours of continuing education a year to be included in the Directory This is usually achieved by taking individual classes at the Center The Schmieding Center bases faculty qualifications on federal and State requirements For example, instructors with an RN degree must have two years of nursing experience and one year of home health experience The two home care managers who went on this visit were highly impressed with the curriculum Their agencies provide training, but it is not required before home care aides go into homes Said one, “It would be better if they had this training coming into the field.” Another comment was, “Nurses would like to learn that PCA [personal care assistants] are competent and have the knowledge.” They liked the idea of consistent training that covers everything home care aides need to know They also approved of aides demonstrating competencies before beginning to work The entire curriculum for all four units can be purchased for $9,500 The Elder Pal and dementia curricula purchased together cost $7,000 The Elder Pal alone costs $5,000 The purchase price includes an administrative manual, an instructor manual for each class, a DVD for each class, and one student manual for each class It also includes a week of training at the Schmieding Center for two people The Schmieding Center is willing to modify the Elder Pal curriculum so that it covers all the Colorado requirements for home care assistants This would involve adding lessons on partial bath, assistance with shoes, feeding, range of motion exercises, bladder and bowel treatment, and scheduling medications Individual student manuals cost $15 and are different for each course Christian Living Communities may be interested in purchasing this curriculum Judith Cohen will be available to make presentations about this site visit to interested agencies Sandy Steiner will contact Front Range Community College about interest in purchasing this curriculum At some later date, it would be helpful if the schools providing CNA courses would give credit to home care aides who completed the Elder Pal course Contacts   Kelly Denning, HR Specialist/Director, Christian Living Communities Mary-Jo Jones, Client Services Director, Christian Living Communities Page | 11 SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report       Lisa Braun, Home Care Director, Christian Living Communities Marti Smith, Training Supervisor, Seniors Inc Shana Long, Care Manager, Seniors Inc Valerie Alsbrook, Coordinator of Home Caregivier Training, Schmieding Center Larry Wright, Director, Schmieding Center Gilda M Underwood, Director, Schmieding Foundation Page | 12 SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report APPENDIX A: SCHOOL WELLNESS MEETING INVITATION Meeting for Program Staff When: Where: Time: Why: Food? Tuesday, April 27 Adams County Economic Development 12050 Pecos Street, Suite 200 8:00 to 10:00 Meet each other, exchange information, decide if there is a need for ongoing communication Yes, a healthful breakfast This meeting is hosted by the Adams County Education Consortium and funded by a grant from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Please forward this invitation to others who are interested Contact Judith Cohen at 303-388-5157 or jxcohen@comcast.net with questions RSVP by Thursday, April 22 to: 303-388-5157 or jxcohen@comcast.net A copy of the report “School Wellness Programs in Adams County” is available at www.adamscountyeducation.org/healthcare.html Page | 13 SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report APPENDIX B: SCHMIEDING CENTER ADDITIONAL SERVICES The Schmieding Center offers a broad range of services for older adults They include:       Elder caregive supportive services such as in-home status reviews, short classes and support groups Aging Resource Center providing articles, books, videos, and Internet resources Care planning and consultation Continuing geriatric education for healthcare professionals Classes and programs for seniors such as “brain games”, glaucoma screening, and an AARP driver safety class A newsletter called Agewise Page | 14 SECTORS Grant Extension Status Report ... Contact Judith Cohen at 30 3 -38 8-5157 or jxcohen@comcast.net with questions RSVP by Thursday, April 22 to: 30 3 -38 8-5157 or jxcohen@comcast.net A copy of the report “School Wellness Programs in Adams... coordination within the school wellness community Customer Service/ Soft Skills Training Goal: Improve the customer service and soft skills of newly hired and incumbent healthcare workers Expected... Practical Nurses Laura Landwirth, Executive Director, Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aged (CAHSA) Personal and Home Care Aides Goal: Improve the quality of care and the job situation