Disability Studies Quarterly Fall 2004, Volume 24, No. 4 <www.dsq-sds.org> Copyright 2004 by the Society for Disability Studies |
Reminding Ourselves of the Often Overlooked -- Education and Training of Home Health Aides Mary Ann Price
|
St. Louis has had a disabilities studies program based at St. Louis Community College for 13 years. Other colleges and universities nationwide also offer training programs for paraprofessionals (paras). Classes are usually small, and persons are not usually granted release time from their jobs to attend. In addition, they often are not given monetary increases or promotions after completing the courses. Many paras work double shifts because the salaries are low and there are usually no benefits. Most of our students seek and achieve an Associate's degree or a Certificate of Specialization in Disability Studies because they want to, for their own satisfaction. Unlike other programs, which offer non-credit or continuing education courses, our courses are for credit and some students go on to complete a Bachelor's degree. Those who graduate with the agency/organization competencies that are requested usually work in group homes for adults with developmental disabilities; recreation programs for disabled persons; respite care and day care centers, e.g., Head Start; teacher aides in special education classrooms. Anna Lou Pickett, the "guru" of training for paraprofessionals at the National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals, has developed curricula and coordinated national conferences particularly for Para educators. These are the persons most likely to receive release time and some tuition reimbursement for courses. The persons most commonly overlooked for training/education in disability issues are those involved in home health – aides for persons with disabilities. Agencies often put new aides in front of TV/VCR screens, show two or three videos and, in effect say, "Now you are trained and ready to work." National Independent Living Centers (ILC) and disability rights groups advocate for "consumer directed or self-directed" aide services. Aides and ILCs contend that paraprofessionals should be hired, trained, and fired by the disabled consumer. According an AARP Issue Brief, "A 2002 survey found that more than three-fourths of Americans, aged 50 and older, would prefer to have control over money and management of their workers if they need home care services rather than an agency having control. This certainly would increase the growing need for paras in the area of home health" (2003). As a professional in the field of disabilities and a person experiencing significant multiple physical disabilities, I agree with this philosophy. But there should be more... Just as Para educators are trained as teacher aides, home health paras need education before entering a person's home. Whether they receive continuing education, or modules that may lead to a credit course, many persons with disabilities agree that training is imperative. Aides need basic medical training, not just viewing videos with no discussion by an authority on the subject. Aides should know CPR, medicine administration, transfer techniques, information about blood borne pathogens, when not to come to work with something contagious, etc. As part of a course(s), "common sense" type topics and concepts need to be presented to those health-oriented paras either entering or already in the field. Additionally, the disabled consumer should be encouraged to take advantage of the training. I am also not negating the idea that the consumer should train aides, because each disabled person's needs are very different. The topics, in no particular order, to be presented may include, but are not limited to:
The consumer through everyday interactions could indeed teach these concepts. However, this should not have to be on-the-job training. Many disabled persons do have lives in and outside of the home. They are busy. That is the reason they choose to live independently. A train-the-trainer model with disabled instructors could be very effective with the newly hired aide. Persons with disabilities know only too well what living with aides can be. As noted, these concepts are not all-inclusive. They are only suggestions for curriculum development. If we can only have agencies comply to have aides receive some form of instruction, we will make significant progress with the "revolving door syndrome." Aides are here today, gone tomorrow. Baby boomers, many of whom are starting to develop disabilities and are in need of having aides themselves, will not likely tolerate untrained persons. Judith Heumann, former Assistant Director, Office of Special Education Services, under President Clinton, says it best: "Independent living is not doing things by yourself. It is being in control of how things are done" (2003). Aides and consumers can be a very effective team! References: Heumann, J. (2003, October). Consumer-Director of Personal Care Services for Older People in the U.S. [Revised and Updated by Barbara Coleman]. Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute. |
Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) is the journal of the Society for Disability Studies (SDS). It is a multidisciplinary and international journal of interest to social scientists, scholars in the humanities and arts, disability rights advocates, and others concerned with the issues of people with disabilities. It represents the full range of methods, epistemologies, perspectives, and content that the field of disability studies embraces. DSQ is committed to developing theoretical and practical knowledge about disability and to promoting the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society. (ISSN: 1041-5718; eISSN: 2159-8371)