Fairfax County Department of Family Services
12011 Government Center Parkway
Fairfax, VA 22035
For more information, contact: Belinda Buescher
703-324-7758, TTY 703-222-9452
Local Korean Community's Commitment to Seniors
Inspires Model Training Program for Home Care Aides
For Immediate Release - December 7, 2004
On December 14, in a special graduation ceremony at the Korean Senior Center, located in the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Vienna, 31 Korean-speaking, locally trained personal care assistants will graduate and begin providing much-needed direct home care services in our community.
In pursuit of a common goal, local public and private organizations pooled resources and expertise to launch the innovative program to increase the local workforce of culturally competent home care aides. The partnership includes:
- The Korean Central Presbyterian Church
- Fairfax Community Long Term Care Coordinating Council
- Fairfax County's Department of Family Services
- Northern Virginia Community College, Medical Education Campus
- Inova Health System, Congregational Health Partnership
- Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Fairfax County's Faith Communities in Action.
The initial inspiration for the training program came from Heisung
Lee, a professional nutritionist and member of the Korean Central
Presbyterian Church in Vienna, Virginia, who created and runs a highly
successful senior center at the church. When Dr. Lee's own father was
battling cancer and needed a trained personal care assistant (PCA) to
help with his home care, she could find no one who spoke his language
or understood his cultural background.
"If the aide doesn't speak the client's language or prepare the
food that the client is accustomed to eating, the services provided may
not be culturally sensitive or appropriate," Lee explained.
"When my father needed round-the-clock care, the local hospice
provided him with qualified personal care aides, but they were not able
to fully meet his needs because of language and cultural
barriers."
Lee brought the problem to her church congregation of over 4,000
members.
"I learned that many in our community were interested in studying
to become PCAs, but that their difficulty with English posed a
barrier," Lee said.
Meanwhile, the county's Long Term Care Coordinating Council (LTCCC)
was looking for ways to increase the direct care workforce for its
rapidly growing population of older residents. In June 2004, the LTCCC
and the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board (NVWIB) signed an
agreement to work collaboratively with other partners, including
Northern Virginia Community College, to explore and develop new models
of best practice for recruitment, training, and retention of a direct
care workforce for Northern Virginia.
Lee proposed an innovative approach for training personal care aides drawn from the Korean-American community - keep an English language curriculum and test, but have bilingual instructors present the material to the students in Korean. Inova Health System and others realized that, if successful, this approach could be replicated in other language communities in the region.
Kyujung Park, the Korean Coordinator for Inova Health System's Congregational Health Partnership, who is a bilingual registered nurse, worked with the Korean Senior Center to develop the program. Instructors who speak Korean present the course material, but students must pass the test in English to graduate.
Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) provided lab space at its new Medical Education Campus (MEC) in Springfield. Ronda Hall, director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at the MEC, worked closely with Lee and Park to support the training. The church provided classroom space and lunch, which the students shared twice a week with the senior center participants.
Over the course of 15 weeks, students learned the critical skills
necessary to provide personal care for clients whose advanced age or
disability requires the additional help so that they can continue to
live at home.
On December 14, 31 students will graduate from the program. The next
class, to begin in March 2005, already has a waiting list.
The county's Faith Communities in Action group plans to work with the community partners that developed this model training program for home care aides to replicate the model in other local faith communities.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor projects that the health care industry will add 3.5 million new jobs between 2002 and 2012, an increase of 28%. During this time, home health services employment is projected to grow by nearly 56% from current levels. In Northern Virginia, projected population growth and the need for new health services is projected to increase health care employment requirements through 2015.
Members of the press are invited to attend the graduation and the reception following.
| When: | December 14, 2004, at 11 a.m. |
| Where: |
The Korean Central Presbyterian Church 8526 Amanda Place, Vienna, VA 22180 |
Fairfax County is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in all county programs, services and activities and will provide reasonable accommodations upon request.
To request special accommodations, call Janice Schiff at 703-324-3535; Virginia Relay 711.