Workforce
Each day, the aging services workforce, including direct care professionals, provides high-quality care to millions of older Americans. Yet, despite their importance to our field, this vital workforce is experiencing a crisis that will not abate until we implement evidence-based strategies to boost recruitment, reduce high turnover, improve working conditions, enhance training, and increase wages. For over a decade, the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston has disseminated information about workforce-related challenges and collaborated with employers and policymakers to identify, demonstrate, and assess promising workforce development and improvement practices.
Featured Research
Job Design for Home Care Work
In 2022, the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston documented how home care agencies across different business models design the jobs and work environments of nonmedical personal care aides (PCA). During interviews with leaders and employees at 11 home care agencies, researchers explored issues related to PCA recruitment, onboarding, communication, supervision, care planning roles, and career advancement.
Educating Frontline Staff to Support Housing Residents
Evaluating a LeadingAge Maryland project to help maintenance staff and property managers at affordable senior housing communities better support resident well-being.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Evaluating a Job-Creation Program for CNAs and HHAs
Assessing a LeadingAge California initiative to actively promote, recruit, train, and provide jobs for 2,700 new certified nursing assistants (CNA) and home health aides (HHA).
Contact: Natasha Bryant
COVID-19: Impact on the LTSS Workforce and Consumers
Studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workforce that provides long-term services and supports (LTSS) and the recipients of those services and supports.
Contact: Verena Cimarolli
Bolstering the Home Care Profession in Richmond
Evaluating a multi-pronged intervention to bolster the home care profession by acknowledging the value of professional care providers and increasing their retention rates.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Neighborhood Deprivation and Nursing Home Staffing
Exploring how levels of deprivation in a variety of neighborhoods have affected staffing levels in nursing homes located in those neighborhoods.
Contact: Verena Cimarolli
Managing Workforce Ageism
Evaluating the effectiveness of a workforce training program focusing on ageism and developing a toolkit for identifying and eradicating ageism and ableism in aging services.
Contact: Verena Cimarolli
Job Design for Home Care Work: Perspectives from Employers and Home Care Aides
Documenting how different home care business models address job design and the overall work environment for home care aides.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Enhancing Frontline Nurse Management in Long-Term Services and Supports
Exploring how the field of aging services can support a cadre of trained nurse managers in residential and home care settings.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Creating a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workplace Culture
Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the long-term services and supports workplace.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
A Vision for Reimagining the Direct Care Workforce
Advancing a vision for professionalizing the direct care workforce, improving recruitment, reducing turnover, and ensuring quality.
Contact: Robyn Stone
Home Care Aide Training in Seven States
Documenting promising state-sponsored training practices for the home care workforce.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Changing Talk Online: Reducing Elderspeak in Nursing Homes
Testing the effectiveness of an online training program to reduce “baby talk” with residents in nursing homes.
Contact: Natasha Bryant, Robyn Stone
Integrating Foreign-Born Nurses and Personal Care Assistants into the LTSS Field
Exploring the role that migrant/immigrant workers can play in delivering long-term services and supports.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Helping LeadingAge Members Address Workforce Challenges
A 2017 survey gathered baseline information about the workforce challenges facing nonprofit providers of aging services.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Identifying Competencies for Mid-Level Managers and Frontline Workers
Identifying competencies for personal care attendants and middle managers in long-term services and supports.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Analysis of the National Home Health Aide Survey
Identifying characteristics of home care workers and factors influencing intent to leave a job.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Personal and Home Care Aide State Training (PHCAST) Program Evaluation
A national evaluation of a competency-based training curriculum for personal and home care aides.
Contact: Natasha Bryant
Better Jobs Better Care
A $15.5 million research and demonstration program designed to help improve workforce quality.
Contact: Robyn Stone
Joan Anne McHugh Award
Recognizing nurse leaders who create a supportive and engaged workplace in aging services.
Contact: Natasha Bryant