Direct care professionals who receive high-quality training report higher levels of satisfaction in their jobs, which decreases turnover. These resources focus on ways to expand and improve training of the workforce. The DCW Strategies Center does not endorse or provide specific training for direct care professionals.
Federal Resources
- Direct Service Workforce Core Competency Project— Several documents explore the core competencies researched, developed, and validated by the National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014)
- Recruiting, Selecting, and Retaining Direct Service Workers To Provide Self-Directed HCBS— Online training for self-directed home and community-based services (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- Report to Congress: Personal and Home Care Aide State Training (PHCAST) Demonstration Program Evaluation— Examines the impact of core competencies training on direct care workers’ mastery of skills and job satisfaction (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2015)
- Strengthening the Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Finding a Path— Reports on potential approaches to expand and strengthen the workforce (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2020)
- Visualization Tool – Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Information and Programs— Accompanies the report Strengthening the Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Finding a Pathand provides potential approaches to expand and strengthen the entry-level workforce (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2020)
- Mitigating Direct Care Workforce Injuries in Homecare: A Summary of the Evidence— Explores evidence for using assistive technologies and home modifications for lifting, transferring, and repositioning to reduce home care worker injuries (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, 2022)
- National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards for the Direct Support Professional Occupation— Standards that enable employers to train direct support professionals in the health care industry’s long-term care sector (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010)
- Direct Support Professionals— Includes a report about current policies, programs, practices, proposals, and activities related to women in the workforce (U.S. Department of Labor)
Other Resources
- Career Pathways and College Credit for CNAs: Spotlight on Northwood Technical College— Innovative approach to integrating certified nursing assistant (CNA) training into a gerontology degree program, providing career pathways for CNAs in the aging and long-term care fields (PHI, 2024)
- Impact Feature Issue: The Direct Support Workforce and People with Intellectual, Developmental, and Other Disabilities— Publication that examines workforce problems in our long-term care system and their consequences (Institute on Community Integration, 2018)
- Best Practices in State-Sponsored Personal Care Aide (PCA) Training Curricula: Lessons From Six States— Examines state-sponsored curricula to identify best practices in training methods and content for direct care professionals (PHI, 2018)
- Evaluating a Train-The-Trainer Approach for Improving Capacity for Evidence-Based Decision Making in Public Health— Examines the train-the-trainer approach as an effective and less costly method than traditional classes, while still allowing courses to be tailored to local approaches (BMC Health Services Research, 2015)
- Healthy Aging Requires a Healthy Home Care Workforce: The Occupational Safety and Health of Home Care Aides— Outlines the need for new framework and methodologies to assess aide and client safety together to guide future research, policies, and practices (Occupational Health, 2021)
- Implementing the Care Integration Senior Aide: A Practical Guide for Home and Community-Based Services Providers— 10 practical steps for implementation in a home care setting (PHI, 2022)
- Training Culturally Competent Direct Care Workers: Key Considerations for Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Providers— Explores how training and education on cultural topics can impact delivery of LTSS (Resources for Integrated Care, 2019)
- Respite Provider Training and Credentialing Resources— Provides resources and ideas to encourage development and expansion of respite provider training opportunities (ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center)
- A Closer Look (at Frontline Initiative)— Podcast series for direct support professionals and frontline supervisors covers best practices for supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Institute on Community Integration, 2023)
- Promoting Safety and Well-Being for Home Care Workers— Discusses the Safe Home Care Project at UMass Lowell, which developed free educational resources to aid home care consumers in promoting safety at home (PHI, 2023)
- Direct Care Training and Trauma-Informed Practices— Explains how to integrate trauma-informed principles (safety, transparency, choice, collaboration, cultural history, identity) into curriculum development and training (PHI, 2023)
- The Value of Statewide Direct Care Worker Training and Credentialing Systems— Discusses innovative strategies to address direct care workforce issues in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Michigan (PHI, 2023)
- Direct Care Workforce Development Platform— Outlines four “pillars” of worker-centered workforce development solutions to advance job quality and equity in the direct care sector (Healthcare Career Advancement Program and The Center for Equity, 2023)