HCAOA The Voice Winter 2019-20

2 HCAOA The Voice EXECUTIVE CORNER Caring for the Workforce Key to Caring for Seniors JUST LAST MONTH, THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE Chairman Richard Neal held a hearing in Washington on “Caring for Aging Americans.” As HCAOA’s new executive director and a strong advocate for the rights of older Americans, I thought this hearing was a perfect kickoff for my time here in Washington representing home care professionals, who are often lifelines for older Americans who want to grow old in their own homes. During the hearing, Edo Banach, President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), testified and referred to this country’s long term services and supports system as a “reactive system that requires you to get broken before you can get fixed.” As providers of personal care, we have the ability to prevent further decline of our clients before a crisis hits. In doing so, we help keep health care costs lower and the client able to remain at home. This is the message we must continually relay to both state and federal policymakers as we promote home care as a solution to rising health care costs and demonstrate the value of coordinated, quality in-home care. I am optimistic about the potential growth for our organizations but I also recognize the tremendous challenges we must overcome, particularly the workforce shortage, which has been the “elephant in the room” issue for the last decade. We have a crisis on our hands, which worsens every day and we don’t have time to discuss the reasons why. We know what they are—low pay, bare bones benefits, astronomical turnover, slipshod training, high incidences of fraud and too often a lack of respect and professionalism. As a first step in addressing this problem, HCAOA is forming a Workforce Leaders Round- table. This steering group, which will meet in early 2020 here in Washington, will tackle this problem one aspect at a time, with a structured time frame for solutions. It won’t be easy; In fact, it will be grueling. But if we as the home care community are not willing to focus and address this crisis, who will? We can no longer wait for policy makers to do something—HCAOA must lead this reform, and we will only be successful with a full-court press from our community of providers, advocate groups, and other partners in healthcare. As we look to addressing the recruitment and retention of direct care workers, we recognize the important role they play in keeping our seniors safe at home. In this issue, several HCAOA Associate Members and strategic partners have come forward for this issue to provide their advice in maintaining a safe environment for clients. With family so often the focus for people during the holiday season, it is the perfect time to review safety procedures, from home upkeep and resource management to disaster preparedness. Finally, HCAOA has launched its 2020 Membership Campaign. As home-based care becomes more visible within the health care continuum, increasing our membership ranks is extremely important as we advocate on behalf of providers and the people we serve. This will be accomplished through more tangible benefits, strong advocacy efforts in Washington and state capitols across the country and more educational efforts to help our members grow their business. I look forward to the year ahead and wish you all a very happy New Year. APublicationof theHomeCareAssociationofAmerica Winter2019-20 HCAOARallies the Industry to BeAnOasis inTucson RecognizingHazards in theHome: AreYourCaregiversPrepared? SafeClients=SafeCaregivers andHappyFamilies!