strong workforce
Engage Magazine Winter 2021

LTSS Workforce: Can We Use 2020’s Challenges to Build a Better Future?

by SUSAN HILDEBRANDT, ROBYN STONE, AND NATASHA BRYANT, LEADINGAGE The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the more turbulent that our nation—and the field of long-term services and supports (LTSS)—has experienced. Chief among our challenges, of course, was the coronavirus pandemic that began sweeping the country early in the year. Tragically, Read More…

Next Generation of Senior Care Providers
Engage Magazine Winter 2021

Voices from the Next Generation of Senior Care Providers

We chatted with California State University, Sacramento gerontology students Bernadette, Joshua, and Kennedy, who shared what brought them to the field, what it’s like completing their degrees in today’s socially-distanced world, and what they’d like to see change within the field as they embark on their careers. What motivated you to go into the field Read More…

creating a strong workforce
Engage Magazine Winter 2021

Creating a Workforce to Assure that Every Californian Can Thrive as We Age

by HEATHER M. YOUNG, PH.D., RN, FAAN; BETTY IRENE MOORE SCHOOL OF NURSING, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS I could not imagine a better context for a fulfilling career than community based long-term care. Starting as a nursing assistant on the night shift of a nursing home when I was a teenager, I experienced an intricate Read More…

LeadingAge California Equity Cabinet
Engage Magazine Winter 2021

LeadingAge California Creates Equity Cabinet to Address Equity Gaps in Aging Services Field

by Meghan Rose, General Counsel & Director of Social Impact Initiatives and Housing Policy, LeadingAge California COVID-19 has exposed long entrenched and systemic racial inequities in our healthcare system. A simple review of COVID-related deaths uncovers a vast age-disparity, where older adults are dying at a very high rate. However, what a simple review of Read More…

COVIA Creative Spark
Engage Magazine General Interest Winter 2021

Designing a More Engaged, Creative Workforce

by KATIE WADE AND JESSICA MCCRACKEN of CREATIVE SPARK, A COVIA COMMUNITY SERVICE Creativity. A bit of a loaded word, yes? Many of us don’t identify as creative, or perhaps someone in our childhood told us we weren’t. Maybe you were told you weren’t creative because your drawing wasn’t lifelike or your grammar wasn’t correct Read More…

career ladders
Engage Magazine General Interest Winter 2021

Career Ladders for Gerontology Workforce: The California Community Colleges

California Community Colleges recognize that career ladder models in healthcare and gerontology are a successful method to offering multiple pathway options for developing the workforce. Training is offered to support careers in senior living, lifestyles, and healthcare in rural and urban colleges in 113 locations throughout California. The Health Workforce Initiative (HWI), a grant from Read More…