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Resources for Direct Care Workers

Join the IMPART Alliance Direct Care Worker Directory!

As a Direct Care Worker, are you:

  • Feeling isolated or forgotten as if no one cares about you or the essential work you are doing?  
  • Would you like more support? 
  • Would you like to get information about things like new state guidelines, a new Professional Association for Direct Care Workers, opportunities for training, and ways to connect with other DCWs

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider joining the IMPART Alliance Direct Care Worker Directory!  COVID-19 made it clearer than ever that we need better ways to reach others and be heard to improve our jobs and lives as direct care workers. Add your name to the new confidential IMPART Alliance Direct Care Worker Directory by completing a super short survey [just 6 questions].   Your contact info will automatically be entered into a secure, confidential database. Your name will never be shared without your permission.

Spread the word! Tell all your friends who are Direct Care Workers to join by adding their names to the directory!

JOIN THE DIRECTORY

Join the IMPART Alliance Direct Care Workers Forum Facebook Community!

This Facebook group is for Direct Care Workers to share information, ideas, support & encouragement about providing supports & services in the home environment.

JOIN THE GROUP

Stay Well: Cultivating Joy Video Series

Does it sometimes feel like the pandemic and other challenges have drained the joy from your life? The Stay Well program presents a collection of animated videos exploring ways to move beyond the pandemic and other struggles and reclaim personal joy.

LEARN MORE

DCWs are in demand!

  • The U.S. is rapidly aging. Twenty-five percent of the population will be age 60 or older by 2030(1) which has already created a higher demand for assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing and dressing. Direct care workers are one of the fastest growing workforces in the nation but availability already exceeds demand and it is estimated that there will 8.2 million job openings by 2028.(2)
  • In Michigan alone, 36,000 more direct care workers are needed! (2) Most older adults prefer to live at home with access to safe, person-centered, high-quality long-term supports and services; the kind provided by competent DCWs. Evidence indicates a direct association between comprehensive DCW training and fewer, high-cost health outcomes such as falls and emergency department visits. Where will all the needed employees come from?

References

  1. (U.S. Administration on Aging (2008). Projections of the population by age and sex for the United States: 2010 to 2050 (NP2008-T12), Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau; August 14. Retrieved January 21, 2014 from http://www.aoa.gov/Aging_Statistics/future_growth/future_growth.aspx#age.
  2. PHI National (2020). Retrieved May 4, 2020 from https://phinational.org/policy-research/workforce-data-center. 

Is a DCW Career Right for You?

  • DCWs provide assistance to older adults and persons with disabilities in a variety of settings from an individual’s own private home to adult foster care homes, nursing homes, and community living settings. The type of assistance varies with each individual’s need and can include activities of daily living (ADLs) like dressing, bathing, and eating. Some individuals may receive assistance with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) like housekeeping and meal preparation. Others need vocational development assistance. Do you have what it takes?
  • Ask yourself if you have the skills it takes to be a DCW:
  1. Do you enjoy working with people, particularly older adults and persons with disabilities?
  2. Are you kind, patient and a good listener?
  3. Are you dependable?
  4. Are you flexible and able to multitask?
  5. Are you willing to learn new ways of doing things?
  6. Are you willing to learn about and honor the  values and preferences of the person you are assisting?

If you answered “Yes” to these questions, you have some of the innate skills needed to be a DCW. Job training is also critical for success to ensure that you provide support and services in the safest, most person-centered and professional way possible. This benefits you as well as your clients.

DCW Statistics…

  • By the year 2050, there will be 88 million people age 65+, nearly double that of today. (US Census Bureau, 2014)
  • Direct care workers make up one of the fastest growing occupations in the US (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012; PHI 2013)
  • By 2020, there will be 1.6 million new direct care worker jobs open and not enough people to fill these jobs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012; PHI 2013)
  • Currently there are no federal training standards for DCWs other than Certified Nursing Assistants and some Home Health and Hospice Aides, yet they provide up to 80% of the paid hands-on care in private homes, residential and adult day care settings. (PHI 2013)

"Professional Direct Care Workers: Critical Lifelines with Heart" - Listen to direct care workers as they describe the importance of their services and their daily impact on the lives of individuals who need support.

 

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