Partners in Care Home Health Aides Receive LGBT Cultural Sensitivity Training

As part of VNSNY’s ongoing LGBT educational initiative, the nearly 10,000 home health aides in VNSNY Partners in Care are each attending a specialized training session designed to raise their awareness of cultural issues and sensitivities around sexual orientation and gender identification. The training program, based on a curriculum developed by the SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) organization, covers topics such as confidentiality, the need to avoid making assumptions about a client’s partnership or marital status, an overview of LGBT history, and the use of gender-appropriate terminology with transgender patients and clients.

“The sensitivity training is being given as part of the aides’ annual in-service training, and they report they’re finding it engaging and informative,” says Barbara Maccaro, Director of Quality Assurance and Education for Partners in Care. “We’re currently conducting two training sessions a day. Our aim is to have 90 percent of our aides trained by the end of the year.”

VNSNY Home Care and its Hospice and Palliative Care have already been awarded Platinum certification from SAGE, indicating that 80 percent of their employees have received SAGE training. Now Partners in Care is on track to earn that designation as well.

“Our goal is always to provide the very highest quality of care to our customers,” notes Jennifer Rajewski, Senior Vice President of Partners in Care. “With this training, our diverse patient and client population can be confident they’ll be treated with understanding, sensitivity and respect by all of our Partners in Care home health aides, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The Take-Away: Home health aides in VNSNY Partners in Care are now receiving specialized training to increase their awareness of cultural issues that impact LGBT patients. VNSNY Hospice and Home Care staff have undergone similar training as well.