Caregiving

Community College Caregiver Winners Show Innovation in Program Design

Increasing numbers of people are finding it difficult to obtain affordable, quality in-home care for older adults. 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.

In response, the ILC's Community College Caregiver Training Initiative, with the generous support of MetLife Foundation. was launched in 2007 to raise national awareness of the critical need for caregiver training and the central role that community colleges can provide in this training.

To date, 24 community colleges have received up to $25,000 each to either establish innovative, new home-based caregiver training programs or enhance existing programs for professional and family caregivers.

“Community colleges play a vital role in educating in-home caregivers as our country faces an increasing need for quality, accessible, affordable care,” says Dr. Robert N. Butler, president and CEO of the ILCUSA and co-director of The Caregiving Project for Older Americans. “The colleges selected represent the variety of innovative training programs that promise to produce quality in-home caregivers.”

The initiative is housed within The Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a joint collaboration of the International Longevity Center-USA and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education. The Caregiving Project for Older Americans is an action-oriented collaboration that aims to improve the nation’s caregiving workforce through training, the establishment of standards, and the creation of a career ladder.

The winning community colleges serve a diverse group of students including both urban and rural communities and minority populations, and represent innovation in the design, management, and implementation of caregiver training programs.

2008 Winners

Brookhaven College (Farmers Branch, Texas) will launch two new training programs: the continuing education program Home Health Care and Hospice Aide and the Family Caregiver, which provides training on best practices in home care and practical solutions for home-based caregivers that can be learned in a short period of time.
Capital Community College (Hartford, Connecticut) will introduce a new home care caregiver training program in their Division of Continuing Education’s 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 Hartford County.
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (Cincinnati, Ohio) will train participants in Home Health Aide Training and help make them eligible to sit for the state of Ohio’s Nurse Aide Training examination.
GateWay Community College (Phoenix, Arizona) will expand its recruitment efforts and offer bilingual components to meet the needs of the large Hispanic population in Arizona.
Harford Community College (Bel Air, Maryland) will create an In-Home Aide Training program as well as 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 (Overland Park, Kansas) will offer the 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 (Honolulu, Hawaii) will expand its gerontology program by creating an entry level paraprofessional training, offered through the Kupuna (Elder) Education Center, the first and only community-college based gerontology center in Hawaii.
Madison Area Technical College (Madison, Wisconsin) will introduce the REACH project, expanding the college’s Certified Nursing Assistant program by introducing homecare content into the existing certificate program and creating a new two-day workshop for family home caregivers.
Union County College (Cranford, New Jersey) will introduce an eldercare initiative that provides technical training, job-related basic education, job development, educational assessment and counseling to job seekers, incumbent workers and volunteer caregivers, with a focus on attracting individuals who might not traditionally see eldercare as a career option.
Southeastern Community College (Whiteville, 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 to family caregivers each month.
Southwestern Oregon Community College (Coos Bay, Oregon) will launch an initiative designed to fill critical gaps in caregiver training that have been identified by the Oregon DHS Seniors & People with Disabilities, including a “train-the-trainers” component and scholarships for low-income family caregivers.
Tulsa Community College (Tulsa, Oklahoma) will implement a Certified Home Health Aide program as an addition to its existing Certified Nurse Aide program. The college will also offer Caregiving Basics Training to family caregivers.