Nearly 9 in 10 Pennsylvania voters polled said that home-healthcare workers should be required to have the same training and education requirements nursing home employees do.
Even more (94%) would like to see a law passed, mandating home health workers face the same background checks as nursing home employees do in the commonwealth, according to the poll of 650 likely voters. Susquehanna Polling and Research conducted the study for Triad Strategies LLC.
The Pennsylvania Health Care Association touted the poll as evidence that legislation on home healthcare licensure now being considered by state lawmakers should be modified to place more regulatory oversight on home-health providers.
“Consumers clearly demand and deserve a more uniform, level playing field when it comes to ensuring the caregivers they depend upon are trained, educated and checked in a manner that maximizes care quality and safety,” said Alan G. Rosenbloom, PHCA’s president and CEO. “A key public policy objective in the Commonwealth must be to establish a more integrated long term care continuum — from home and community-based care to assisted living to nursing facilities.”
