In Home Supportive Services Brochure

Introduction
During the first semester, my senior community project was focused on transportation services for older adults. My supervisor of the local Adult Service agency informed me that transportation was an unmet need that seemed to always come up every year in the agency. This was especially a concern for the disabled older adults who lived in rural areas.

While performing my research and receiving feedback from my supervisors, I found that it was a very challenging goal for an intern like me to surpass the barriers in obtaining a convenient and inexpensive transportation service for this population. It seemed like an unrealistic goal that would acquire more than one year for any changes to occur. I decided that it was more appropriate for me to help the agency on a much smaller scale.

I discussed with my supervisor another possible project. She suggested that the agency’s In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) brochure has not been updated for more then ten years. Since this internship was the first time I have ever heard of such program like IHSS, it suddenly sparked an interest in me to learn more about the program. Thus, my focus for the second semester was to recreate a brochure for a local IHSS program. I was very excited to begin the new project. My home visits with the IHSS clients made it even more meaningful to complete each objective and tasks to accomplishing my goal.

In Home Supportive Services Program
In Home Supportive Services is a “publicly funded non-medical service to help functionally impaired persons of all ages, with limited resources that are at risk of long-term placement” (California Department of Social Services, 2005, para.1). The program’s intention is to allow individuals to remain safely at home as long as possible. “It is not a luxurious program” a direct service worker commented. Then she added, “If people can do certain things for themselves, we try to encourage them to continue living independently” (Personal Communication, February 15, 2006). The program provides services such as household chores and Personal Care Services Program according to the client’s ability to perform daily activities. This can include housekeeping, laundry, shopping, meal preparation and clean up, feeding, dressing, respiration, bathing, bowel & bladder care, moving in and out of bed, rubbing the skin (to prevent skin breakdown), accompanying to medical appointments, paramedical services, and protective supervision.

Statement of Need
As the long-term care population is increasing, the need to maintain such programs like In Home Supportive Services becomes ever more crucial. The U.S. Census Bureau (2006) reported that in 2000, the population of our County was 203,171. Persons who are 65 years old and over made up 15.8% of the County’s population and persons with a disability, age 5+ was 40,735 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Smith and Longino (1994) estimated that by “2020 at least 2.4 million out of a total of 9.9 million impaired persons over the age of 65 would need community-based services” (p. 638).

Other results gained from the research acknowledged that the “cost of families raising a child with a disability is reported to be three times higher than that for bringing up other children” (Taylor, 2005, p. 50). This often becomes a burden on the family, leaving them isolated from society and in debt. Taylor (2005) mentioned that even though the benefits of In Home Supportive Services may significantly improve the lives of some families with disabled children, it is not without its problems.

Description of the Intervention
In the recreating of an IHSS brochure, my supervisors provided me with an out-dated brochure for use as a template, an IHSS manual book, and a list of adult service’s contact information. My supervisor highlighted all the counties that were similar to our County and advised me to contact the supervisors of each Adult Protective Services agencies. This was a vital task because it allowed me to obtain information and develop ideas. It also was a relevant resource for me to evaluate the brochure with other county’s brochures.

After attempting to call each supervisor of the related counties, I talked to three persons but had no luck obtaining an IHSS brochure. I left voice messages and also sent out an email to the remaining persons to make sure that the contact person was valid. Only two out of the 11 counties that I contacted responded back and mailed in their county IHSS brochure. They were properly thanked and a card was sent to remember them for their involvement in my project.

I used the two brochures and information I obtained from the web found on other county sites and the manual book to guide me in completing my project. I had made four revisions and handed to friends and family members for feedbacks before submitting it to my supervisors for review. I handed in a hard copy and emailed in an electronic copy of the brochure to my both of my supervisors. This way was more convenient for my supervisors to make necessary changes and to make the brochure accessible to all unit supervisors and staff.

Evaluation of the Intervention
It is too early to determine the effectiveness of the brochure or what its impact would have on the agency. The brochure was evaluated by all the unit supervisors of this agency. One unit supervisor thought the brochure was “eye appealing” and very informative. She mentioned that the brochure would be good to have available for hospital social workers for discharge planning. Other unit supervisors commented on my work and provided useful feedback. My supervisors related I did a great job on the brochure. One of them stated that the brochure will benefit the agency as well as the community in needs of IHSS. She advised me that since I turned in the brochure, a few minor changes had occurred.

The brochure is still in the process of being evaluated by the program manager. After the program manager approves the brochure then it goes to the director for final approval before the brochure can be distributed to the community. A possible impact of the brochure could be that the demand for IHSS may lead to the opening of more job opportunities for many people. One, the agency would have to hire more IHSS workers to take over caseloads. Two, this would require more hiring of individual providers for new IHSS clients. Three, the demands in IHSS could also create other related problem to occur such as lack of social services funds.

Reflection on the Project
The most prized possession from the community project for me was the learning process and the knowledge and skills I had obtained through this experience. These possessions will prove to be a great help for me later in my social work practice with my supervisors, co-workers, colleagues, friends, family members and clients. In order to complete this project I had to use many people as resources for information or connection to other resources. Without them I do not think my project would have gone anywhere. My recommendation for anyone working on any type of projects that involves people as resources is to thank all of them for their time and contribution.

References
California Department of Social Services (2005). In home supportive services. Retrieved November 21, 2005 from http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/cdssweb/In-HomeSup_173.htm
Smith, M.H. & Longino Jr., C.F. (1994) Demography of caregiving. Education Gerontology, 20(7), 633-644. Retrieved on February 15, 2006 from http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=9501131608
Taylor, A. (2005) Hidden benefit. Community Care, 1592, 50-51. Retrieved on March 22, 2006 from http://mantis.csuchico.edu:2057/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=18667140
U.S. Census Bureau (2006). State & county quick facts: Butte County, California. Retrieved on March 22, 2006 from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06007.html