Increasing the Supply of Paraprofessional Home-Care Workers to Serve At-RiskIndian Elders

摘要

The goal was to establish a home-care training program at one American Indiancollege that would increase the supply and quality of home-care workers in the surrounding Indian community, and would ultimately serve as a model program to guide home-care training program development at other American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) colleges. The program expanded educational resources and opportunities in the Salish Kootenai community, increased the ability of the community to respond to the in-home, community-based service needs of its elderly, developed vocational skill of program trainees who are providing quality home-care services to Indian elders, increased the employment opportunities of the trainees who live in an economically depressed area, strengthened the existing aging network between the college and community, and improved overall community knowledge of Indian aging issues.