News and Notes

UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care

January 2024

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Launched in 2022 with support from the National Institute on Aging, the Advancing Workforce Analysis and Research for Dementia (AWARD) Network develops infrastructure and relationships to generate research on the health care workforce that serves people living with dementia. Researchers from any discipline who are interested in advancing or building a research portfolio that considers the health care workforce are invited to participate in the AWARD Network.

I’m pleased to share a brief update on the AWARD Network current activities:

The Inaugural Summer Training Institute will host 20 participants July 15-19 in San Francisco, CA. This week-long institute will train early-career researchers in the concepts underlying rigorous research on the health workforce and their care for Persons Living with Dementia (PLWD), including approaches to conducting and disseminating such research.

The Monthly Webinar Series happens the first Wednesday of every month at 9:00 AM Pacific/12:00 PM Eastern. Check out the upcoming schedule and the back catalog of our webinar recordings over the past two years.

The Annual Meeting on Tuesday, July 2, in conjunction with the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Baltimore over June 29-July 2, will offer time for networking and learning about emerging dementia care workforce topics as well as lunch.

The Research Fellowship Program will enable emerging researchers to initiate or work on a collaborative research project with an experienced research mentor. Successful applicants will receive $2,500 to $5,000 to cover various specified costs. Applications are due February 28.

If these topics interest you, please join the AWARD Network!

Joanne Spetz, PhD

Director

UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care

HIGHLIGHTED STORIES

Why We Need First-Gen Grads in Nursing and Health Care

Across the US, more than 40% of college graduates are the first in their families to earn a bachelor’s degree. These “first-gen” students have uniquely important challenges in their journeys. “In first-gen programs, we see the strengths that first-gen students bring. Students have to work more. These challenges help build the character of future health care providers that can better take care of our patients,” said Laura Wagner, UCSF HWRC professor and founder of FirstGenRN — the first program of its kind nationwide.

In the first episode of a new podcast from the UCSF School of Nursing, learn about the first-gen nursing student experience and how UCSF’s first-in-the-nation FirstGenRN program supports future nurse leaders in their academic journeys. Listen now.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Chapman, S, Fraimow-Wong, L, Phoenix, B, Tierney, M, Spetz, J. Perspectives on APRN prescribing of medications for opioid use disorder: Key barriers remain. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 2024, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949875923002667.

Chapman SA, Neri MT, Newcomer RJ. Training Home Care Workers Reduces Emergency Room Service Utilization. Prof Case Manag. 2024 Mar-Apr 01;29(2):81-87. doi: 10.1097/NCM.0000000000000711.

Dys S, Hua C, Scales K. Policies to outcomes: multilevel considerations for the assisted living workforce. Innov Aging. 2023 Dec 21;7(Suppl 1):329. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad104.1096. PMCID: PMC10737474.

Lane S, Basrai Z, Yoon C, Farnham T, Scales K, Carson E, Boucher N. Using collective impact to assess home and community-based services worker training and credentialing. Innov Aging. 2023 Dec 21;7(Suppl 1):1180. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad104.3781. PMCID: PMC10738282.

Loustaunau L, Stepick L, Kneebone E. "Overwork Impacts on Low-Wage Workers: Insights from the Food Manufacturing Sector in Oregon and Washington," Community Development Research Brief, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, vol. 2023(3), pages 1-24, October. DOI: 10.24148/cdrb2023-03

Muench, U, Kim, KM, Zimmer, Z, et al. The association between cognitive ability and opioid prescribing in vulnerable older adults with chronic pain in ambulatory care: a secondary data analysis using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. BMC Med 21, 446 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03133-w

Scales K, Hailer-O’Keefe L, Wagner L, Stepick L. Examining the use and impact of contract certified nursing assistant staffing in nursing homes. Innov Aging. 2023 Dec 21;7(Suppl 1):321–2. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad104.1070. PMCID: PMC10737030.

Scales K, King J, Dieppa E. Partnering to improve care: strengthening the family caregiver and home care worker relationship. Innov Aging. 2023 Dec 21;7(Suppl 1):462. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad104.1522. PMCID: PMC10736779.

Tan AK, Capezuti E, Samuels WE, Backhaus R, Wagner LM. Intent to stay, moral distress, and nurse practice environment among long-term care nurses: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey study. J Nurs Scholarsh, 2024 Jan 02, PMID: 38169102. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38169102/

Travers J, Scales K, Bonner A, Longobardi I, Maki S. Transforming Nursing Home Teams: What We Can Do Now to Build a Stronger Nursing Home Workforce, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, Volume 24, Issue 12, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2023.10.018.

Tyler D, Hunter M, Porter K, Khavjou O, Squillace M, Dey J, Oliveira I. Continuing challenges in state efforts to improve direct care worker wages. Innovation in Aging. 2023 Dec 21;7(Suppl 1):235. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad104.0773. PMCID: PMC10735757

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

Susan Chapman presented on “Health Workforce Burnout and Turnover: Current Issues, Measures, Interventions” at an international conference on long term care in Solstrand Norway on October 31, 2023.

Kezia Scales presented “Examining the use and impact of contract certified nursing assistant staffing in nursing homes” at the Gerontological Society of America 74rd Annual Meeting, Nov. 2023, Tampa, FL.

Janet Coffman presented “Findings from the Medical Board of California’s Mandatory Licensure Renewal Survey” to the Medical Board of California on Dec. 1, 2023.

Janet Coffman participated in a video briefing for staff of the California State Legislature on “Telehealth Outcomes and Impact on Care Delivery: A Review of Evidence” on Dec. 18, 2023.

Denise Tyler presented “Continuing Challenges in State Efforts to Improve Direct Care Worker Wages” at the Gerontological Society of America 74rd Annual Meeting, Nov. 2023, Tampa, FL.

ABOUT UCSF HWRC

The UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care (UCSF HWRC) is a dynamic hub of policy-oriented research and investigation, established through support from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in the U.S. Bureau of Health Workforce. UCSF HWRC closely examines the health care workforce and helps shape policies to meet expanding LTC needs. Our research includes the workforce in nursing homes, home health care, adult day care, community-based settings, and home settings, and includes all LTC occupations.

Director: Joanne Spetz, PhD, FAAN

Deputy Director: Susan Chapman, PhD, RN, FAAN

Associate Director for Research: Laura Wagner, PhD, RN, FAAN

Visit: https://healthworkforce.ucsf.edu/about

Follow on Twitter: @u csfhwrc

This newsletter highlights new HWRC publications, as well as workforce-related research conducted by our team at the Institute for Health Policy Studies and Healthforce Center at UCSF, and other research partners.