Free Online Training For California Home Health Care Workers Ends August 31

Caring for a grandmother

All through my teens in Bengaluru, India, I was a caregiver. My aging and ailing maternal grandmother lived with my parents and me. She was feisty, fiercely independent, and loved watching American soap operas like Santa Barbara and Bold and the Beautiful. However, she was also prone to heart failure and suffered from diabetes and hypertension.

Taking care of her day-to-day wasn’t challenging but when she had a failure coming on, my grandmother had barely 20 minutes before her lungs would fill with fluids causing a possibly deadly pulmonary edema. Both my parents worked, so I often was the only caregiver at home with her. Whenever she had symptoms of heart failure, I would carry her down to the family car and drive her to the nearest hospital for an immediate, life-saving treatment.

This was over 20 years ago when there was scant understanding of home care and emergency treatment in India. While this lack of knowledge has improved it is still scarce in India, where people often choose to care at home for the elderly and infirmed in their families.

California is Graying

However, in California, the California Department of Aging (CDA) has activated a clear plan to meet the needs of the state’s graying population with the Master Plan for Aging . By 2030, around 10.8 million people in California will be older adults, almost a fourth of the population, triggering a need for trained home health workers who play a vital role in addressing this looming healthcare challenge.

At an August 15 Ethnic Media Services briefing CDA leaders and caregivers shared how the CalGrows training program is helping unlicensed caregivers, Home Health Aides (HHA), and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) upgrade their skills and learn new ones. These unpaid family members and friends often fill this vital gap in healthcare services.

CalGrows Trains Caregivers

“CalGrows is really more than just a training program,” said Connie Nakano, a seasoned California government administrator, and the Assistant Director of Communications at the Department of Aging. “It’s an investment in our community. By supporting caregivers, we’re ensuring that our loved ones receive the care that they deserve. And by participating, you’re not only advancing your career but also making a positive impact on the lives of countless individuals in our community.”

CalGrows training programs have helped California’s caregivers upgrade their skills and become more effective when working with the elderly and infirm. There are over 600 courses, both online and in person, some in 9 different languages, all free of cost.

As an added incentive, caregivers can earn up to $6,000 for taking courses. While anyone, even undocumented immigrants can sign up for the non-paid courses, you must qualify to get the paid incentives.

CalGrows Incentives

It is important to note that all CalGrows incentive claims MUST be submitted by 8/31 for payment. Other courses will be available on the Calgrows website until the end of September when the current round of funding for this program ends. The Department of Aging is hopeful of securing future rounds of funding for the program.

According to Nakano, the training incentive has been wildly successful. She said, “To date, we have approximately 14,000 caregivers that have already taken 89,000 courses and we’ve given about $7 million in incentives for taking these courses. So we really encourage all caregivers to take advantage of the CalGrows program.” The incentives were equally distributed among paid and unpaid caregivers.

A caregiver’s story

Lidia Mawalu, a paid caregiver and CalGrows trainee in Monterey County is Fijian. She is representative of the Pacific Islander community which has a long history of being at the forefront of caregiving in the U.S. “My experience with the CalGrows training was really excellent, fantastic, ” said Mawalu, adding, “I would recommend it to other people that have seniors around them or have seniors in the family.” Mawalu explained she learned a wealth of knowledge from the program, that helped her understand medically, “what’s actually happening inside the person and what a senior person is going through in daily life.”

Mawalu found an ally in Carmen Contreras, another CalGrows Trainee who signed up for some classes after her father had a stroke and needed consistent home care. Conteras said often a patients are new to the illness they are experiencing and need reassurance that they have someone who can help and guide them through it, to experience “the best quality of life that they can.”

600+ Courses

The 600+ courses on offer include ​​Dementia Care, Patient-Centered Communication, Mobility Assistance Techniques, Healthcare Professional Self-Care, Managing Chronic Disease, and Care Team Collaboration. With a robust search engine on the CalGrows website , prospective trainees can easily figure out what works for them, their schedules, and their specific needs.

Though many classes are available online, many offer in-person practical training sometimes for weeks to enable caregivers to practice what they are learning at a facility. “They teach you all the skills that you need in order to be able to …assist a patient with bathing, with dressing, with activities, their daily life,” explained Conteras.

Beyond healthcare, communication is vital in patient care, particularly with specialty doctors, said Conteras. “The patients don’t understand, and not knowing the language is always is a scary thing for them.” The presence of a carer who can explain everything step by step and bridge any communication gaps between doctor and patient ” works wonders for the patient,” said Conteras.

Forging a Career Path

For professional paid caregivers like Mawalu, programs and the certifications they provide (HHA and CNA for instance) help forge a career path, serving as foundational courses to qualify as a Registered Nurse or a Licensed Practical Nurse.

The programs also draw working professionals from nursing facilities, old age homes, and community centers. Sean Hidalgo, the Classes Manager for ACC Senior Services , Sacramento has both hosted and attended classes under CalGrows. He shared that a class called the Process of Aging helped him better understand the different ways that people age because not everyone ages the same. “I got some dietary and healthy, living choices that I could talk about with the older folks here to help the community in the center make better health choices.”

Support for CalGrows

Hidalgo encouraged Californians to advocate for these courses to continue and become integral to the CDA, since they are invaluable to an aging population

The advocates on the panel agreed that while science and healthcare techniques are vital knowledge, the collaboration between patient and caregiver takes center stage in day-to-day living and deserves more attention.

“We have a mutual relationship,” said Mawalu. “It’s very compassionate and loving work. Share with others that caregiving is an enjoyable task.”

APPLY BEFORE AUGUST 31 TO GET PAID TO TAKE CAREGIVER COURSES. The California Department of Aging has 600+ free courses to choose from in their CalGrows initiative.

Image by Rosy / Bad Homburg / Germany from Pixabay

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