State training for caregivers of older adults and people with physical disabilities

Background. There has been recent focused attention on the lack of training for home care workers. These workers provide the bulk of long-term care yet there is no federal mandate and few state requirements for any training. There are estimated to be over 1.3 million (2007-2009 ACS) home care workers, but this number is probably low since many caregivers are unpaid or have multiple jobs. Research Objective. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded a demonstration project, PHCAST (Personal and Home Care Aide State Training), in 6 states to develop and test training programs that would standardize training and develop credentials for this workforce. This evaluation of the California PHCAST project assessed the impact on job development, competency development, client satisfaction, and employment in the home care field. Methods. The California PHCAST training program, consisting of 100 training hours, was implemented in-person at four training sites and online using Blackboard©. Evaluation data was collected through pre-training, post-training, and 6-month follow-up surveys. Questions cover the domains of satisfaction, skills learned, knowledge learned, and job readiness. Findings. California PHCAST students were highly satisfied with the training and felt they learned valuable skills in preparation for work as personal or home care aides. Nevertheless, job placement as a personal or home care aide was still difficult. Implications. State and federal focus on training and certification for home care workers will be a considerable investment. The impact of training programs on client and worker outcomes should be further researched.