By Carey Candrian
When we begin our research by listening to the stories of those closest to the issues, our attention shifts—and so do our questions, writes Carey Candrian, LeadingAge’s senior vice president of research and programs. Read Carey’s blog to learn how you can help LeadingAge researchers ask the right questions.
Last week, I joined a Zoom call with LeadingAge members from across the country to discuss workforce challenges. At one point, a member from Maryland asked, “Has anyone heard about the gas challenge?”
One by one, other participants shared true stories about how, in many cases, certified nursing assistants (CNA) and other direct care professionals are not coming to work because they can’t afford the gas they need to get there.
One member from Kansas had heard about the gas challenge from their organization’s HR team. However, those HR stories also focused on challenges related to accessing and affording childcare, and even buying scrubs to wear to work.
There’s an underlying stigma around all this: it’s hard to tell your supervisor that you can’t afford to come to work.
For many years, the direct care workforce has been at the heart of our work at LeadingAge. We know that without a workforce, there is no care. We believe that advocating for the direct care workforce must be a policy and a research priority. We’re convinced that we can best support our members and advocate for change by understanding the underlying issues driving workforce challenges, especially those on the ground.
Projects That Made a Difference
At the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, we’ve seen firsthand how research helps us build and strengthen programs that address those underlying issues. For example, we evaluated a three-year pilot project in Richmond, VA, that provided caregivers with reliable backup transportation through a partnership with Lyft, the on-demand ride-sharing service.
Similarly, LeadingAge California provided wraparound support, including funds to cover childcare, transportation, food, and related training costs, to CNAs and home health aides (HHA) enrolled in The Gateway-In Project©. The pilot was designed to address critical shortages in California’s clinical workforce. This support was intended to reduce the barriers many prospective students faced when entering the aging services workforce. The LTSS Center’s evaluation found that the program effectively trained and supported the employment of new CNAs and HHAs, particularly by engaging and assisting individuals who might not have been able to afford such training.
These projects made a real difference, and they also raise important questions about how we can continue and expand this important work. Some of those questions include:
- What potential solutions to our workforce challenges might come from direct care professionals who have to choose between how much they’d earn at work and how much it would cost to get there and back?
- What ideas might come from administrators who find themselves scheduling shifts without enough staff?
Stories Matter
I was drawn to research, in part, by stories: stories from real people who our members interact with every day. Hearing these stories matters. Knowing them matters. Sharing them matters.
When we start with the stories of people closest to the issues, our attention shifts—and so do our questions. When we start with the community directly affected by workforce issues, research questions expand from “How do we professionalize the direct care workforce?” to “What makes it hard for professional caregivers to come to work and keep coming to work?”
Stories about the gas challenge prompted LeadingAge to launch new research to help us address this situation. We have two goals. First, we want to tell a more complete story about the complex decisions direct care professionals make before they even get to work. Second, we want to share innovative approaches adopted by member communities that are helping direct care professionals get to work right now.
The goal of LeadingAge’s Research and Programs team is to listen to members—their needs, their challenges, their experiences, their solutions—and use what we learn to shape our priorities. From there, we hope to work with members to build an evidence base that prepares us for the future. All of our work will be grounded in the voices of older adults and those who serve them.
Part of our strategy involves listening to people and building a research agenda based on what we learn. That’s how we heard about the gas challenge.
We’d love to hear from you, too.
What stories are keeping you up at night?
What story do you want us to know about right now?
What story are we not telling?
My door—and my inbox—are open. I look forward to hearing from you.