Program expands workforce of caregivers for low-income islanders

Vashon Care Network created a pilot program to provide scholarships for a cohort of six students, who last week completed their coursework to be certified by the State of Washington to become Home Care Aides.

By Elizabeth Shepherd • February 2, 2022 1:30 am
(Courtesy Photo) At a celebration last week, four HCA scholarship recipients, two of their trainers, and their training mannequins smiled for the camera. Top row left to right: Monica Dally, Sissel Johannessen (trainer), Stacey Wolczko, Chris Jovanovich (trainer). Bottom row left to right: Aimee Aiken, mannequins Thelma and Louise, and Holly Allingham. Two other students were not available as they were with clients.
(Courtesy Photo) At a celebration last week, four HCA scholarship recipients, two of their trainers, and their training mannequins smiled for the camera. Top row left to right: Monica Dally, Sissel Johannessen (trainer), Stacey Wolczko, Chris Jovanovich (trainer). Bottom row left to right: Aimee Aiken, mannequins Thelma and Louise, and Holly Allingham. Two other students were not available as they were with clients.

More low-income seniors on Vashon will soon be able to access certified, on-island caregivers, thanks to the efforts of Vashon Care Network (VCN) in partnership with Vashon’s Senior Center.

Last year, VCN created a pilot program to provide scholarships for a cohort of six students, who last week completed their coursework to be certified by the State of Washington to become Home Care Aides (HCA).

Pending their licensure in February or March, the newly minted home care aides can soon begin their work with low-income island seniors whose home care is paid by the state’s Department of Health. All of the scholarship recipients have committed to work a minimum of three to five hours per week for islanders who qualify for state-funded caregiving assistance.

Carol Spangler, a VCN board member, said the program would expand health care services for some of the island’s most vulnerable seniors.

“On Vashon, there is a shortage of qualified HCAs,” she said. “This means that even if a low-income family qualifies for assistance for a loved one at home, they may have a hard time finding a qualified caregiver. This expanded and skilled island caregiving workforce will be a significant resource to ensure low-income island elders remain in their homes and lead healthy, active lives as long as possible.”

Spangler said the program had been needed for some time on Vashon.

“Because of the dearth of state-certified caregivers on Vashon, there have been several attempts over the past five years to support independent caregivers in securing certification,” she said. “Perhaps the greatest barriers have been the need to go off-island for training and the challenge of navigating the complicated state licensure process.”

A major reason for the success of this current class of trainees, she said, was that the 75 hours of required training was offered online through Cornerstone Health Care Training. Although the cohort did meet in person from time to time over the 10-week training period, technology saved the day. The students were able to attend classes, complete training modules, do skillset videos and share resources through online interaction and hundreds of email exchanges.

Funding and support for the program came from several sources.

The Senior Center received an award from the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy (VSHSL) to fund five of the scholarships, with VCN underwriting the sixth scholarship. Granny’s Attic also helped fund the project, paying for island caregiver Chris Jovanovich to serve as a skilled mentor for the students as they completed their coursework.

Jovanovich said she was grateful for Vashon’s Lutheran Church for its longtime support of VCN — the church is the site of VCN’s Care Closet, which provides different types of home health care equipment and personal hygiene items free of charge to islanders. The church also opened its doors to HCA scholarship students, by providing a location for them to be filmed in videos required by the program to demonstrate their skills.

Jovanovich also credited a local doctor with another key donation to the project — two brand-new nursing training mannequins, whimsically named Thelma and Louise, which were used by the students to both practice and demonstrate their caregiving skills. The mannequins were easy to transport, Jovanovich said, and made a tremendous difference in terms of helping the students gain skills.

“The fact the doctor gifted the nursing training mannequins to our cause really broadened the community support to us in this concrete way, alongside the Senior Center scholarships and the support of VCN,” she said. “It’s pretty heartwarming to see these folks coming together to help serve our [low-income] island families looking for caregivers.”

The best news of all? Based on VCN’s successful pilot of the training program, seven additional scholarships will be awarded this year for more students to complete coursework to become HCAs.

The addition of 12 certified home care aides on Vashon translates into 1,880 to 3,120 hours of care available to low-income elders annually, said Spangler.

Applications and guidelines are now available at vashoncarenetwork.org. Applications will be accepted through March 1 and selection completed by March 22. For additional information, email contact@vashoncarenetwork.org.