PENNSYLVANIA Auditor general has plan for long-term care change

Only Florida has a higher percentage of elderly residents than Pennsylvania.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. said a group he formed to improve the quality of long-term care in the state has given Gov. Ed Rendell a strategy to address the problem.
Casey spoke Thursday at the Shenango Valley Center for Aging and Geriatric Health on Buhl Farm Drive, using the occasion to discuss the status of nursing-home care in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Culture Change Coalition, a group he formed in 2000, has come up with a proposed strategy that will make Pennsylvania "the best state in the nation for long-term care," he said.
Pennsylvania has 2 million senior citizens, second only to Florida in its percentage of older citizens; more than 16 percent of Pennsylvania's population is over age 65, Casey said.
Over the next decade, Pennsylvania will need thousands of additional direct-care workers to meet a growing demand for long-term care services.
Changes in attitude
Changing the culture of long-term care requires recognizing nursing home residents as individuals, not objects, and front-line workers as skilled caregivers, not low-skill laborers, Casey said.
Aging must be recognized as another stage of life rather than an irreversible decline to death, he said.
To improve the quality of long-term care, the coalition has advised Rendell to:
UCoordinate long-term care reforms through the new Office of Health Care Reform and the Intra-Governmental Council on Long-Term Care.
ULaunch a "Better Jobs-Better Care" demonstration program.
UUse funds for training in "Culture Change" practices.
UDesign and implement improved training for direct-care workers.
UDevelop a measurement tool that ensures accountability for public funds spent on long-term care.