It’s no secret that the senior care industry faces an acute labor shortage, one that directly impacts the quality of care and resident satisfaction.
At Eskaton, a senior care provider in Northern California, we have found a unique strategy to help address the labor shortage and retention challenges facing the senior care industry: Integrating employees with disabilities into the workforce to create a more stable and enriching environment for both staff and residents.
“Retention is a huge issue,” said Alfredo Cruz, executive director at Eskaton Gold River in Sacramento, California. “It’s important to recruit quality staff who truly care about the work they do and the population we serve.”
We have partnered with PRIDE Industries, whose mission is to create employment for people with disabilities, to introduce supported work groups into our workforce at Eskaton Gold River. With work groups, an agency like PRIDE Industries hires, trains, and manages employees onsite with an embedded job coach acting as a liaison with the employer to facilitate communication and success.