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 Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)— Online training provides information to people who self-direct or wish to self-direct their HCBS and others interested in finding, hiring, and retaining workers (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- Report to Congress: Personal and Home Care Aide State Training (PHCAST) Demonstration Program Evaluation— Report 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— Project report 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— Tool that 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— 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— Office of Disability Employment Policy page on the role and career path of direct support professionals (U.S. Department of Labor)
Other Resources
- The Effectiveness of Technology and Smart-Home Based Teaching Modules for Direct Care Workers— Article that examines the benefits of assistive technology for individuals with I/DD at home and the importance of training DSPs to help them use these tools (Grand Valley State University, 2024)
- 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— Brief 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— Train-the-trainer approach is examined 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— Article 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)
- Respite Provider Training and Credentialing Resources— Resources and ideas to encourage the 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— Free educational resources from the Safe Home Care Project at UMass Lowell to aid home care consumers in promoting safety at home (PHI, 2023)
- The Value of Statewide Direct Care Worker Training and Credentialing Systems— Innovative strategies to address direct care workforce issues in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Michigan (PHI, 2023)