Fifteen Community Colleges Win Awards for Innovative Caregiving Training Programs

NEW YORK, Aug. 13  /PRNewswire/ -- The International Longevity Center, with support from MetLife Foundation, has selected 15 community colleges to receive $20,000 grants for caregiver training programs.

The 2009 Community College Training Initiative grants are part of the Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a partnership of the International Longevity Center and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education. The initiative is focused on addressing a growing caregiving crisis by encouraging the expansion of caregiver training programs for family caregivers and in-home care workers. Since 2007, the initiative has awarded 39 grants.

"This initiative has gained tremendous momentum in recent years and this year's applications were particularly strong," said Dr. Robert N. Butler, president and CEO of the International Longevity Center. "More than ever, people who need quality homecare are having difficulty finding it, and families who often provide care are facing greater challenges balancing work and home responsibilities."

  This year's winners are:

  --  Aiken Technical College (Aiken, South Carolina), to expand its
      caregiver program to an offsite location in Aiken County, which will
      assist in-home care agencies to provide quality care for clients and
      provide a career pathway for in-home caregivers.
  --  Cabrillo College (Aptos, California), to launch a training program
      that targets direct care workers and family caregivers. The program
      will offer a combination of lecture, discussion, and experiential
      learning techniques in Spanish and English.
  --  Clark College (Vancouver, Washington), to create home-based caregiver
      training through E-learning modules. The modules will provide high
      definition videos illustrating the proper techniques for home
      healthcare.
  --  Community College of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), to
      develop a training program that incorporates multicultural standards
      into a personal assistant training program for paid and family
      caregivers.
  --  Eastern Shore Community College (Melfa, Virginia), to establish a
      network of quality paraprofessionals in eldercare, using a
      "train-the-trainer" model to individuals or groups who either live
      with or help provide care to older family members.
  --  Feather River Community College (Quincy, California), to develop a
      training program to help care for home-bound people with a chronic
      illness or a disability. Students will be family caregivers or paid
      care workers employed by Plumas County.
  --  George C. Wallace Community College (Dothan, Alabama), to produce
      training videos for test preparation, through collaboration with a
      local healthcare service provider, for those pursuing careers in
      nursing, long-term care and home health.
  --  Kingsborough Community College (Brooklyn, New York), to introduce a
      program of "shared training" designed to create a collaborative
      relationship between family caregivers and home health care workers.
  --  Macomb Community College (Warren, Michigan), to expand its Eldercare
      Specialist Program beyond the campus, allowing family caregivers to
      attend on-campus, hands-on caregiver training in a Certified Nursing
      Assistant lab.
  --  Miami Dade College (Miami, Florida), to establish an Elder Caregiver
      Educational Institute to provide training in multiple languages,
      career services, and a networking resource fair. The curriculum will
      include content on cultural sensitivity.
  --  Monroe Community College (Rochester, New York), for a collaborative
      effort with two other community colleges that provides skill training
      to in-home care workers and family caregivers, including a module
      featured in courses offered by Finger Lakes Community College and
      Lifespan, an elder services organization.
  --  Parkland Community College (Champaign, Illinois), to provide home
      health aide certification training to nursing assistants, development
      workshops for home health care employees, and self-management training
      for individuals and family caregivers.
  --  Prairie State College (Chicago Heights, Illinois), to provide training
      to family caregivers and residents seeking caregiving opportunities,
      in an area where unemployment rates have been above the national
      average for years.
  --  Southeast Arkansas College (Pine Bluff, Arkansas), to provide classes
      to train both family caregivers and in-home care workers, offering
      career opportunities to both the unemployed as well as seniors looking
      to supplement their retirement income.

  --  Trinity Valley Community College (Athens, Texas), to offer a new
      training program that provides entry-level access to medical training,
      which can serve as a "bridge" to other medical training pathways.



"Community colleges are perfectly positioned to help address a growing caregiving crisis," said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "MetLife Foundation is pleased to support this initiative, which offers much-needed training resources to family caregivers and in-home care professionals."

The International Longevity Center-USA is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan research, education, and policy organization whose mission is to help individuals and societies address longevity and population aging in positive and productive ways, and to highlight older peoples' productivity and contributions to their families and society as a whole.  The organization is part of a multinational research and education consortium, with centers in 11 countries, which work both autonomously and collaboratively to study how greater life expectancy and increased proportions of older people impact nations around the world. For more information, visit http://www.ilcusa.org/prj/caregiving.htm.

MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 by MetLife to carry on its longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement.  In the area of aging, the Foundation funds programs that promote healthy aging and address issues of care giving, intergenerational activities, mental fitness, and volunteerism.  More information about MetLife Foundation is available at http://www.metlife.org/.

Contacts:  Ted Mitchell [phone]

 

DATASOURCE: MetLife Foundation



CONTACT:  Ted Mitchell of MetLife, [phone],





Web Site:  http://www.metlife.org/ 

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