Colleges to expand caregiver programs
By CC Times, Published September 11, 2008

A MetLife Foundation-funded initiative that focuses on caregiving for the elderly has awarded 12 community colleges up to $25,000 each for their in-home caregiver training programs.

"We hope this initiative continues to highlight the important role community colleges can play in training our nation’s professional and family caregivers," said Kenneth Knapp, project manager for the International Longevity Center-USA’s (ILC-USA) Caregiving Project for Older Americans, which manages the initiative.

The need for more training is an urgent one; More people are finding it difficult to obtain affordable, quality, in-home care for older adults, according to ILC-USA. The available pool of family caregivers is shrinking, and at the same time the caregiving profession is experiencing a severe and worsening shortage of paid caregivers.

The Caregiving Project for Older Americans seeks to address this need by encouraging community colleges to develop new, creative programs that train both family and professional in-home caregivers.

"Community colleges are uniquely positioned to help recruit, train and provide personal and professional development opportunities for caregivers," said Sibyl Jacobson, president of MetLife Foundation.

The following colleges were selected:

• Brookhaven College (Texas) will launch two new programs that will provide short-term training on best practices in home care and practical solutions for home-based caregivers.

• Capital Community College (Connecticut) will introduce a new home care caregiver training program in its Health Professions Institute, which will work closely with the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs to identify trainees and volunteers to provide home care to veterans in the area.

• Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (Ohio) will train participants in home health aide training and prepare them for the state nurse aide exam.

• GateWay Community College (Arizona) plans to expand its recruitment efforts and offer bilingual components to meet the needs of the state’s large Hispanic population.

• Harford Community College (Maryland) will create an in-home aide training program and offer a conference on caregiving and end-of-life issues, in collaboration with local hospitals, hospice organizations and health care nonprofits.

• Johnson County Community College (Kansas) will offer an advanced dementia care certificate program to train family caregivers and in-home care workers on long-term home care services to older adults with cognitive deficits due to Alzheimer’s, dementia or stroke.

• Kapiolani Community College (Hawaii) plans to expand its gerontology program by creating an entry-level paraprofessional training, offered through the Kupana (Elder) Education Center, the first and only community-college based gerontology center in Hawaii.

• Madison Area Technical College (Wisconsin) will expand its certified nursing assistant program by adding home care content into its certificate program and creating a new two-day workshop for family home caregivers.

• Union County College (New Jersey) aims to launch an eldercare initiative to provide technical training, job-related basic education, job development, educational assessment and counseling to job seekers, incumbent workers and volunteer caregivers. It will focus on attracting individuals who might not traditionally see eldercare as a career option.

• Southeastern Community College (North Carolina) will enhance its in-home aide and certificated nursing assistant programs to include home-based care training. Additionally, a resource library and workshops on home-based care will be offered monthly to family caregivers.

• Southwestern Oregon Community College (Oregon) will launch an initiative to fill critical gaps in caregiver training identified by the Oregon Department of Human Services’s Seniors & People with Disabilities, including a train-the-trainers component and scholarships for low-income family caregivers.

• Tulsa Community College (Oklahoma) will add a certified home health aide program to its certified nurse aide program. The college will also offer caregiving basics training to family caregivers.