Educating Homecare Aides: What You Need to Know!
Kenyon HomeCare Consulting • March 16, 2021
There’s no shortage of methods for growing your homecare organization these days. But one sure-fire way to boost your growth – that you probably haven’t thought of – is advanced chronic disease education for aides. With numerous benefits to your staff, your clients, and your bottom line, homecare aide education should be an integral part of your growth strategy.
Why Educating Homecare Aides Matters
Caregivers receive training while becoming certified aides, so why is it important to focus your efforts on educating homecare aides further? The reasons are practically never-ending, but we’ll start with these three:
Initial training isn’t enough. Although aides are required to become certified prior to employment, the training is very basic and doesn’t include specifics needed to adequately provide chronic disease care. In order to reap the rewards of a fully-educated staff, your aides must be knowledgeable of care beyond the basics.
Chronic diseases are on the rise. According to the CDC, chronic diseases (i.e. diabetes, heart disease, stroke) are the leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Unfortunately, the ability to treat these conditions isn’t keeping pace with the rate at which the diseases are rising. Nationwide clients and/or their families are looking for specialized care to help manage symptoms and live as normal of life as possible.
The medical field is constantly changing. Technological advancements are responsible for the bulk of these changes. While this is certainly a good thing, it makes continuously educating homecare aides more crucial than ever.
It’s no longer enough to employ average caregivers – not if you want to make a difference in the lives of your clients and grow your organization. Providing advanced chronic disease education is not only necessary, but also greatly advances your success.
Educating Homecare Aides Benefits Your Organization
When you provide advanced educate beyond the minimum requirements, you set your agency apart. Here are just three of the many benefits chronic disease education provides:
Creates an elite group of caregivers. What does this matter? Simply put, well-educated aides are elite having the ability to provide better care, which increases client satisfaction. When clients are satisfied, they tell referral sources. This has a positive snowball effect on your profit margin.
Sets you apart from the competition. As mentioned earlier, clients are in need of advanced chronic disease care now more than ever. Your competition isn’t offering this level of care or the specialized services you offer when your aides are well-educated. So clients and referral sources will turn to you for the care they require.
Increases employee retention. Give your aides a career path and a reason to become an elite caregiver, and they’ll stick with you longer. Research shows that employee replacement costs average about $75,000. That’s a big chunk of change! Educating aides ensures that you’ll avoid some of your current replacement costs.
Whichever reason for educating homecare aides resonates with you, there’s no questioning the importance of advanced education. At Kenyon HomeCare Consulting, we offer everything you need to meet the needs of your community, satisfy clients and employees, and boost your bottom line – all through the one of it’s kind, Aide University.
Check out our courses when you’re ready to make a difference in your community, organization and your bottom line!
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