HOME 

ABOUT US

WHAT’S NEW?

ACTIVITIES

EVENTS

ISSUES

LINKS

CONTACT US

 

DCA Conference Unites and Inspires Worker Advocates
September 18-20, 2004

Armand Legault, an employer member of the Connecticut Association of Personal Assistants, and personal assistant Oleeta Igar of Los Angeles In a striking display of the power and promise of the growing movement to improve job quality for direct-care workers, more than 130 long-term care workers, consumers, employers and advocates gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Direct Care Alliance’s national conference September 18-20. The conference tagline was “creating unity for a valued direct care workforce,” and it fulfilled that promise. The days were long and full, but attendees gained energy as time went on, buoyed up by the presence of so many committed and creative colleagues all working toward the same goal. “The energy of Iowa CareGivers Association delegation – 15 members strong – was especially appreciated, along with members of all the other worker associations who were there,” says CNA John Booker, the president of the National Association for Direct Care Workers of Color. “Each group fed off the energy of the others.” Nearly half the attendees were nursing assistants, home health aides, personal care attendants and other direct-care workers, most of whom arrived with colleagues from a worker association. Using leadership skills honed by their associations, the workers played a prominent role throughout the conference, asking probing questions and sharing their insights in both formal and informal exchanges. Other attendees included leaders and staff of organizations that employ direct-care workers, consumers of long-term care and personal care services, and a sprinkling of union representatives and others who work to improve job quality for direct-care workers. CNA John Booker addressed direct-care workers at their opening session The conference opened with a lively interactive session just for direct-care workers. After a call-and-response introduction and some ice-breaking exercises, facilitators MariaElena Del Valle, Peggy Powell, and Sara Joffe of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute led discussions of what traits distinguish a leader and what changes are needed to improve direct-care jobs. Booker then urged his fellow workers to speak up at the conference and elsewhere, defining themselves before others define them. “We need to get together as a group and name ourselves,” he told the responsive audience. Other attendees joined the direct-care workers for a dynamic opening session featuring song, dance, poetry, and moving testimonials from three long-term care stakeholders. Former nursing home administrator Tom Zwicker talked about the difficulty of turning around an underperforming nursing home and the heartbreak of losing all of his family’s savings in the process. CNA Roger Parrish talked about the circumstances and values that had led him to choose his life’s work and some of the things he learned during 42 years as a nursing assistant. And Anna Fay, a long-term care consumer who is executive director of Consumer Choices of New York City, paid tribute to the personal care assistants who had made it possible for her husband to live out his last years at home after developing multiple sclerosis. Jeni Gipson of the National Network of Career Nursing Assistants recognized workers with 20 years or more of service Interactive sessions on topics like creating avenues for worker participation and building cross-stakeholder coalitions alternated with special events. Sunday opened with a poster session in which worker associations and other groups explained their work and ended with Heartwork, a powerful “theater of witness” piece performed by the six home health aides and nursing assistants who created it. Donna Calame, the executive director of the San Francisco IHSS Public Authority, said she had attended other DCA conferences, but none that so fully addressed the needs and concerns of consumers and workers in consumer-directed care. “There was a recognition that that is an arena that has its own unique issues, and that it’s really an important area to develop,” she said afterward. “I really like the fact that a national organization is pulling together a variety of stakeholders that understand that and will be trying to communicate the whole spectrum of service needs to policymakers.” “It’s just a great group of people,” Calame added. “I’ve seen Heartwork on tape several times, but it’s really a treat to see it live.” In addition to the networking and idea exchange between long-term care constituents, the conference offered insights into the political forces shaping long-term care policy. In the closing plenary session, Andreas Frank of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Stephanie Swirsky of the U.S. Department of Labor joined health policy and workforce consultant Carol Regan to discuss the forces that keep worker wages and health insurance coverage low. The next morning, several attendees visited Capitol Hill to talk to their representatives about the link between job quality and care quality and the need to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for direct-care workers. More than a dozen groups from across the nation participated in Sunday morning's poster session “The conference was a wonderful experience for me and our staff. Our visit with our congressional staffer went quite well,” Rebecca Hutchinson, president of Quality Care Partners, a New Hampshire home care agency, told DCA Executive Director Patsy Harris. “I particularly appreciated the time I had to sit with other providers during Peggy [Powell]'s workshop and the networking opportunities that mealtimes provided,” Hutchinson added. The glacial pace of change in our long-term care system can be discouraging for the people working to improve direct-care jobs, so advocates need to know that they aren’t alone. “It was so great for the Maine PASA representatives to meet and hear [fellow worker advocates] John Booker, Roger Parrish and Lorrene [Maynard], and to see the level of conviction and optimism out there for worker issues,” said Elise Scala of the Maine Personal Assistance Services Association. –Elise Nakhnikian Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute

Home | About Us | Contact Us