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Michigan State University has received a $25 million grant to address the state’s shortage of direct care workers from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A research team housed in the College of Osteopathic Medicine will use part of the grant to establish a Direct Care Worker Career Center.

IMPART Alliance is an MSU-led research team and nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the direct care workforce profession through training programs, advocacy, research and career development.

Michigan State University received much-needed funding to address the state’s critical shortage of direct care workers. Those are the people who provide long-term care and support to people with disabilities or older adults.

“You need to be compassionate, you need to be empathetic and you need to have a lot of patience,” said Kelli Ohnstad, a direct care worker.

Helping those in need maintain as much independence as possible. An important job that is lacking staff.

“We have approximately 175 to 190 thousand direct care workers in the state right now we need 36 thousand more,” said Clare Luz, Executive Director of the Impart Alliance. 

Michigan State University has received a $25 million grant that will address the state’s critical shortage of direct care workers, or DCWs, by establishing a Direct Care Career Center that aims to increase pathways into the field and transform the public view to one that recognizes the workforce as a respected profession.

DCWs provide long-term support to individuals with disabilities and older adults. They assist with hands-on care and tasks needed to maintain as much independence as possible. Paid direct care assistance beyond what families can provide is often a necessity, but there is a dire shortage of people trained to do this kind of work. Employers are facing serious challenges in hiring and retaining staff. About 190,000 DCWs are currently serving the state’s residents; at least 36,000 more are needed.

IMPART Alliance is tackling a problem faced by all of us, including our parents, our partners and, ultimately, ourselves,” said executive director and leading faculty researcher Clare Luz. “The U.S. and Michigan’s populations are rapidly aging, which is creating a greater demand for high-quality, lower cost supports and services at home, where most people prefer to live for as long as possible in their later years.”

This collaborative effort is a crucial step towards developing competency assessments, which will serve as the basis for granting competency-based credentials for Direct Care Workers.

"Clare Luz, gerontologist, and Kevin Foley, a geriatrician, in MSU’s Department of Family and Community Medicine in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, say meeting the demand requires recruiting more medical students into geriatric specialties, training more direct care workers and improving the culture that defines aging."

LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) today announced a partnership with IMPART Alliance at Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine to develop infection control training for direct care workers. MDHHS has provided IMPART Alliance $50,000 in COVID Relief Funding to develop the training and make it widely available for direct care workers (DCW) providing home and community-based services. IMPART Alliance will develop a comprehensive Infection Control curriculum for training all direct care workers and family caregivers. MDHHS, IMPART Alliance and others will widely distribute the training to increase access and skills for the caregivers. The training will be free of charge and available online in December 2020.

Grand Ledge High School students are learning key healthcare skills by participating in a free IMPART Alliance Personal Care Aide training course! The first training session, "Introduction to Aging", encouraged students to learn about how some older adults might experience physical challenges. The Grand Ledge School District has provided great support for this pilot program and students are excited to build their healthcare skills!

IMPART Alliance has 23 trainers across Michigan teaching DCWs person centered supports and services skills using the BTBQ(TM) curriculum. Our next targeted area for trainer development: the U.P. and Southeast Michigan!

The NewsHour explores the state of today's Direct Care Workforce in two segments that features Direct Care Workers, homecare agencies and advocates in Michigan.