Virtual
ly nothing is more important than selecting the right company to provide care for your loved one. The Caregiver Quality Assurance® program is designed to identify home care and companion care companies that use a values-based assessment to find quality caregivers with the behavior and attitude necessary to provide quality care. It’s not enough that a caregiver has the required skills. They must also have the personality, aptitude, values and workplace attitude to match the daily needs of their role as a caregiver. Companies that are members of the CQA program have made the commitment to go above and beyond the norm to ensure the best care is provided.
Today many companies that provide caregivers do so with the bare minimum standards of screening and selection. Most companies offer:
• Criminal Background Checks
• Certification Checks
• Reference Checks
Some companies also offer:
• Drug use screenings
• Elder/child abuse checks
Unfortunately, these minimum standards only screen out applicants who were “caught in the act” of doing wrong. Companies who use the assessments and display the Caregiver Quality Assurance seal have access to information necessary to help them assess a candidate’s personality and attitudes for a better job fit.
This unique technology identifies individuals with the potential to put your family at risk. The caregiver pre-employment assessment tool measures attitudes to help predict counter-productive behaviors.
- Hostility (Aggression) – Describes the degree to which the person is not able to suppress angry feelings but rather expresses anger physically or verbally to co-workers and thus poses a real risk in the workplace.
- Conscientiousness (Dependability) – Describes the degree to which the individual lacks persistence, work motivation, and organization.
- Honesty (Integrity) – Involves the degree to which the person is likely to enegage in dishonest behavior.
- Sexual Harassment – Measures behaviors regarding sexuality that are likely to be considered inappropriate.
- Computer Misuse – Measures the risk of using computers and Internet connections in ways unrelated to job tasks.
- Cognitive Reasoning – Evaluates problem-solving abilities and learning speed.
Today, Certified Nurse Aides and Certified Home Health Aides are only evaluated on a minimum of clinical skills. We know, however, that most problems in people’s homes arise with inappropriate attitude and behavior among caregivers. Until now there was no way to evaluate attitude and behavior before problems arose.
Additionally the assessment measures six personality core traits and behavioral characteristics to help determine a better job fit:
- conscientiousness
- tough minded
- conventional
- extroversion
- stable
- teamwork
Ask your local home care company if they participate in the Caregiver Quality Assurance program. If they don’t participate, ask them what type of tools they use to evaluate the attitude, personality and behavioral traits of their applicants. This is an important decision and you want to be assured that the best person is caring for your loved.
How do I know if a company displaying the logo is actually using the assessments?
To verify the standing of any company in the CQA program, contact Leading Home Care at 502-339-0653. We will confirm that the company is a licensee and uses the assessments to screen caregiver applicants.