NARRATIVE TEMPLATE for a (credit) Certificate of Achievement
Item 1. Program Goals and Objectives
This Senior Care Specialist certificate is intended to prepare students for a new role in agencies that provide care to elderly at various levels of independence. The role combines basic nursing skills, psychosocial skills, resource management and administrative skills needed to provide holistic care to seniors who require services that allow them to live as independently as possible in a structured environment. The Senior Care Specialist will be able to provide direct and indirect services to the residents and be a valuable resource for the senior, the facility and the community in which the residence is located. The Senior Care Specialist will be a conduit to link seniors to resources in the community. The Senior Care Specialist will have a skill set to deal with dementia and other difficult behaviors and help develop and transfer these skills to the direct care staff. In conclusion, the Senior Care Specialist will have assessment and care skills that are over and above those of Certified Nurse Aids but below those of Licensed Vocational Nurses. They will fill a niche in senior services.
The certificate will include the 4 health science foundation credential courses (HOC 62, 63, 64 and 65) plus Psych 001, General Psychology and HOC 49, Fundamentals of Elder Care. The Health Science Foundation courses will focus on professionalism and ethics, cultural awareness, teamwork and customer service and the safety, first aid and assessment skills needed by everyone in the health care industry. In addition, HOC 49 will provide a theory and clinical course that focuses on issues relevant to physical and psychosocial care of the elderly. This course focuses on organ changes, medication management, personal care, socialization and dementia and other difficult behaviors that affect the elderly and impact on their care. Health 46 is a repeatable ½ unit course that will provide CPR Certification for the Health Care Provider.
The courses and SLOs are as follows:
HOC 62 Skill Set for the Health Care Professional (2 units)
Student will demonstrate understanding of principles in basic patient care skills.
Student will perform basic skills of care to patients with injuries or diseases.
Competencies:
Safe Practice and Infection Control
Assessment/First Aid (concepts)
Assessment/First Aid (practical application)
HOC 63 Basic Medical Terminology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology for the Health Care Professional (2 units)
Student will analyze medical language and component parts.
Student will apply medical language to discussion of treatment of common diseases and injuries.
Competency
Basic Medical Terminology
HOC 64 Cultural and Legal Topics for the Health Care Professional (1 unit)
Student will apply legal guidelines as they relate to health care situations including privacy, confidentiality and safety.
Students will take action to minimize cultural conflicts in the health care setting.
Competency
Diversity/Cultural Awareness
HOC 65 Fundamentals for the Health Care Professional (2.5 units)
Student will take action that demonstrates understanding of the variation, complexity and ethical principles of the health care provider role in direct and indirect patient care settings.
Student will demonstrate workplace traits that promote professional responses to patients, families, colleagues and other members of the healthcare system in simulated settings.
Competencies
Professionalism/Ethics/Integrity
Teamwork/Collaboration/Conflict Resolution
Customer Service/Empathy/Compassion
Psych 001 General Psychology (3 units)
This is an introductory course in psychology as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Topics treated include history and systems of psychology, biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, states of consciousness, learning, memory, cognition, personality, human development, motivation and emotion, health and stress, psychological disorders, and therapies.
Competency
Student will apply basic principles of psychology to issues involving senior care.
HOC 49 Fundamentals of Elder Care (5 units)
Student will acquire understanding of fundamentals of physical and psychosocial care of the elderly.
Student will provide basic physical and psychosocial care to the elderly resident of a care facility
Competency
Senior Care, Physical and Psychosocial
Health 46 Community CPR for the Lay Rescuer
This is a CPR Health Care Professional required of all people working in the health care profession. The CPR care is renewable every 2 years or sooner depending upon agency protocol.
Students who complete the 16.0 units required for this Senior Care Specialist certificate will be eligible to provide quality care to the elderly in nursing homes, senior living establishments and at home. In addition, they will be prepared to enter other health care programs offered in the LACCD because the Health Science Foundation credential (HOC 62, 63, 64 and 65) has been established as the prerequisite for all health care pathway programs.
The 4 courses in the health science foundation credential are competency-based and designed to be completed in one semester. PSYCH 1 is a theory course that could be taken in conjunction with HOC 49. HOC 49 requires both theory and a lab practicum and can be taken with Psych 1 and Health 46 in one semester. Thus, the student can complete the certificate in 2 semesters after acceptance in the community college. In addition, these courses can be stacked and latticed to provide the student with the opportunity to return to college to study another health care field or to continue his/her education and complete an AA or AS degree. While the CNA courses are a stepping stone to move up to an RN Program, the Senior Care Specialist can move into leadership positions in senior care facilities and/or can act as liaisons to industries like banking and real estate that needs experts to help them provide service to seniors.
According to State of California Employment Development Department the Senior Care industry is growing. The expected increase in Community Health jobs between 2010 and 2020 is 138%. Jobs for Home Health Aides and Personal Care Aides are expected to increase by 246% and 100% respectively.
The median hourly earnings for Community Health Workers is $17.51. The Senior Care Specialist advisory board believes the senior care specialist will be sought after among high end facilities and high end home care providers because their skill set and professional training is at a higher level than the CNA or Home Health Aide.
Item 2. Catalog Description
The catalog description must be entered exactly as it will appear in the college catalog. The description must also:
· The Senior Care Specialist Certificate is awarded to an individual who can provide direct care to the elderly as well as act as a conduit to link seniors to community resources. The Senior Care Specialists will have a skill set that allows them to intervene in situations where the resident is displaying dementia or other difficult behaviors. The Senior Care Specialist will develop and transfer skills to employees providing direct care to seniors. As such, the Senior Care Specialist will be of value to residents, direct care staff, employers and the surrounding community. Senior Care Specialists will be knowledgeable regarding basic direct care skills, basic medical terminology, pathophysiology and pharmacology, cultural diversity, ethics, teamwork, professional behavior and will have fine-tuned customer service and assessment skills.
· The student in this certificate program must have a high school diploma or equivalent.
· This is a new role that is being marketed to elder care facilities. It requires maturity, dedication and compassion.
· The Senior Care Specialist is a Career Technical Certificate. There are no licensing requirements or certification by professional or state associations. It is a new role and will be marketed to senior care facilities as a way of broadening their appeal to potential residents and families. The potential salary is $15-$20/hour. According to David London, President of American Caregivers, this may move into a salaried position.
Item 3. Program Requirements
Course Sequence
The student may complete the required courses in 2 semesters. The health science foundation credential is competency-based. Therefore, students are able to learn at a variable pace and are supported in their learning. Psych 1 is a theory course that will act as a companion to HOC 49. HOC 49, Fundamentals of Elder Care is a course that combines theory and clinical experience. The clinical experience will be in the form of an immersion/mentorship. Once the theory portion is complete each student will spend two full work weeks in an elder care facility working under the guidance of an experienced employee.
Certificate of Achievement: Elder Care Specialist
Requirements / Dept. Name/# / Name / Units / SequenceRequired Core (16.0 units) / HOC 65
HOC 64
HOC 63
HOC 62
HOC 49
PSYCH 1
Health 46 / Fundamentals for the Health Care Professional
Cultural and Legal Topics for the Health Care Professional
Basic Medical Terminology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology for the Health Care Professional
Skill Set for the Health Care Professional
Fundamentals of Elder Care
General Psychology
CPR / 2.5
1
2
2
5
3
.5 / Yr. 1 Fall
Yr. 1 Spring
Yr. 1 Spring
Yr. 1 Spring
Required Core Total: 16.0 units
TOTAL UNITS: 16.0 units
Proposed Sequence:
Year 1, Fall = 7.5 units
Year 1, Spring = 8.5 units
TOTAL UNITS: 16.0 units
The requirements reflect the thinking of American Care Givers, an elder care management and consulting group
Item 4. Master Planning
LATTC was founded in 1925 as the Frank Wiggins Trade School. It is the oldest of the nine, public two-year colleges in theLos Angeles Community College District. Its mission is to provide students and community with high-quality academic, technical, and professional educational opportunities that:
· Meet their career development and academic goals;
· Foster a climate of life-long learning;
· Prepare our students to participate effectively in our society; and
· Generate economic development with our educational, governmental, community and business partners.
Nearly half of all Trade-Tech students work more than 30 hours per week and approximately this same percentage indicate that they are attending the college for job preparation. Students want and need stackable certificates that will allow them to move into higher paying more rewarding careers. Also, the LACCD reports that approximately 10,000 a year indicate an interest in a health care career. Sadly, statistics show that after 6 six year only 3000 of the original 10,000 students have even embarked on a health care career pathway.
The first four courses of this certificate comprise the new Health Science Foundation Credential. These are competency-based courses that allow students to learn at their own pace and at their own times, while providing instructor support. Testing will demonstrate competencies that will be rewarded with digital badges of competency recognized by area employers.
The final course, HOC 49, in addition to the 4 courses in the Health Science Foundation Credential, will provide the student with the direct and indirect care competencies needed for the Senior Care Specialist position. In accordance with the LATTC master plan, this certificate can be an end point or it can be a stepping stone to other positions in the health care pathway.
Item 5. Enrollment and Completer Projections
The Senior Care Specialist will become one of the programs on the health care career pathways outlined by the Los Angeles Healthcare Competency to Career Consortium. It is of interest to Gain/CalWorks. It is estimated that a minimum of 15 students/semester will enroll in this pathway.
(A) Enrollment Data
<Year 1> / <Year 2>CB01: Course Department Number / CB02: Course Title / Annual # Sections / Annual Enrollment Total / Annual # Sections / Annual
Enrollment Total
HOC 62 / Skill Set for the Healthcare Professional / 2 / 80 / 2 / 80
HOC 63 / Basic Medical Terminology, pathophysiology and Pharmacology for the Healthcare Professional / 2 / 80 / 2 / 80
HOC 64 / Cultural and Legal Topics for the Healthcare Professional / 2 / 80 / 2 / 80
HOC 65 / Fundamentals for the Healthcare Professional / 2 / 80 / 2 / 80
HOC 49 / Fundamentals of Elder Care / 2 / 30 / 2 / 30
PSYCH 1 / General Psychology / 2 / 30 / 2 / 30
Health 46 / CPR / 2 / 30 / 2 / 30
*Use as many rows as required to provide requested data.
As a point of reference, refer to the Chancellor's Office Data Mart (www.cccco.edu click on the DATAMART hyperlink on the top right header) for historical completion rates by academic year for each TOP Code.
(B) Survey
In the case of a survey, the survey questionnaire, a description of the population surveyed, and survey results must be included.
See Attached
If the associate degree program goal selected is “Career Technical Education (CTE),” then the enrollment and completer projections must be compared to the net annual labor demand projection entered into the CCC Curriculum Inventory field and stated in the Labor Market Information and Analysis provided as Supporting Documentation. The data must demonstrate adequate demand for the completer projections entered in the CCC Curriculum Inventory field.
Item 6. Place of Program in Curriculum/Similar Programs
Before completing this section, review the college’s existing program inventory in the CCC Curriculum Inventory, then address the following questions:
a) Do any active inventory records need to be made inactive or changed in connection with the approval of the proposed program? If yes, please specify.
None
b) Does the program replace any existing program(s) on the college’s inventory? Provide relevant details if this program is related to the termination or scaling down of another program(s).
No.
c) What related programs are offered by the college?
The college has archived a CNA course and a Home Health Aide course. The department of Allied Health is considering the idea of reinstating these 2 courses. The CNA/HHA courses can be the stepping-stone to the Registered Nursing Program or the Senior Care Specialist Program. The Senior Care Certificate prepares students for a higher level and more responsible position than the CNA/HHA courses. A student with a Senior Care Certificate can stack this certificate onto a Medical Assistant Program or an RN Program, if he/she so desires.
Item 7. Similar Programs at Other Colleges in Service Area
Currently, there are no Senior Care programs that offer theory and clinical experience at other colleges in the service area.