I’ve discovered you’ll find some darn good people in Indiana, even before you weed out any Notre Dame sports fans.
That comes from 25 blissful years of marriage to a Hoosier State native, numerous relatives who live there and various professional connections.
Now, it’s time for you to come to the same realization — if only for professional reasons. Long-term care operators will find they actually have quite a lot to be thankful for when it comes to Indiana.
That’s because people in long-term care and people with staffing or image problems are largely one in the same, no matter what the ZIP code is. Enter Zach Cattell and colleagues with at least a partial answer.
“It would be full of hubris if we said it’s the ‘be-all, end-all,’” the president of the Indiana Health Care Association offered candidly earlier this week. “It’s not, but we’re trying everything we can.”
In brief, Cattell and his team are now sharing with the rest of the country a program that has brought Indiana providers “hundreds” of good job applicants over the last two years. CareForTheAging.org is a workforce-oriented website that launched in January 2017 and warrants at least a few curious mouse clicks.
The site offers video and print explanations of what the key positions in skilled nursing and assisted living are. All the better to inform politicians and other policy makers, as well as prospective job candidates. For the latter, it also lists educational requirements, gives advice for pursuing a job, potential career paths and more. It “sells” the profession(s) like few other tools I’ve seen. And a tool is what this is.
It’s a modern solution for an ages-old problem: How to put a warm, human face on the work that you do, as well as provide encouragement for individuals to join you on the floor or in the office.
Last week it was announced that 17 states have followed Indiana’s lead in using CareForTheAging.Org. That number should grow: This is a marketing, education and recruiting tool that few operators can afford to be without. The past quarter has been spent pitching, ramping up and onboarding the new states. From Georgia to Idaho, from New Hampshire to Arizona, long-term care operators around the U.S. are about to get a big boost to their recruiting efforts. Since last week’s announcement, two other states have expressed interested in also tying into Indiana’s template, Cattell said.
He expects each state to customize its salary, job titles and other information. So-called private labeling of local appeals should lead to even more direct job candidate inquiries.
Cattell said that states are now joining the portal for about 10% of the cost that his group initially put into the project. He notes that there is a certain amount of labor needed to keep the appeals vibrant, but the infrastructure is generally plug-and-play in many ways. On top of that, everyone learns from the experience of the generous Hoosiers. “We will share everything we’ve done, good and bad,” Cattell explained.
Notably, the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living has thrown its support behind the program, without trying to take it over as many a bullheaded parent organization might try to do.
So now it’s in the hands of the participants, and that crowd should continue to grow. Some state organizations already have similar efforts underway, so 100% participation isn’t expected. But there is no question this wave should be bigger, for the benefit of everyone involved — from providers through beneficiaries.
It’s time to join the bandwagon and discover some of the good that comes out of Indiana.
“Why not try?” Cattell reasons, borrowing openly from an unnamed philosopher who got it right: “You can’t change if you don’t try.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been tweaked from its original form to note that it’s been 25 “blissful” years of marriage.
Follow Editor James M. Berklan @JimBerklan.
