Evaluating the Impact of Training for IHSS Workers

NCT06205433 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2308001081
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 2,500
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This trial investigates whether high-quality training for consumer-directed home health workers impacts health outcomes for care consumers and employment outcomes for care workers. The investigators are conducting this study in the context of the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, a consumer-directed, Medicaid-funded home care program in California serving elderly and disabled Medicaid recipients. The investigators will partner with the Center for Caregiver Advancement (CCA), a training provider based in California, to conduct a randomized evaluation of the impact of training for IHSS workers on labor and health care outcomes. The evaluation will enroll IHSS workers in San Bernardino County, where CCA will be expanding its program. Participants will be randomized to either a group that receives CCA's training or a control group that does not receive training. Participants randomized to the training group will complete a 30 hour online course that teaches fundamental caregiving skills. Training includes personal care, infection control, nutrition and body mechanics, medication adherence, and home safety. Researchers will compare outcomes between IHSS providers in the two groups and between IHSS consumers who receive care from the IHSS providers in the two groups to see if training impacts health, health care, and labor market outcomes.

Conditions

Home Care for Elderly or Disabled Individuals

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of emergency department visits (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

Secondary Outcomes (11)

• Any emergency department visits (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

• Estimated annual health care spending (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

• Share of participants with falls resulting in a health care visit (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

• Share of participants with urinary tract infections resulting in a health care visit (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

• Share of participants with pressure ulcers resulting in a health care visit (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

Other Outcomes (8)

• Any hospital admissions (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

• Number of hospital admissions (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

• Total length of stay in hospital (for consumer)

  1 year after training begins

Study Arms (2)

IHSS Basic Training

EXPERIMENTAL

Individuals in the treatment group will be invited to participate in CCA's IHSS Basic training program. The program is a 30 hour online course for IHSS providers, which teaches fundamental caregiving skills. Training includes personal care, infection control, nutrition and body mechanics, medication adherence, and home safety.

Other: IHSS Basic Training

Control

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention is delivered to the control group. The control group will be unable to access CCA's training programs for two years following random assignment.

Interventions

IHSS Basic Training OTHER

The intervention is the Center for Caregiver Advancements 30-hour IHSS Basic training course.

IHSS Basic Training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Current IHSS provider
• Live in San Bernardino County
• IHSS consumer lives in San Bernardino County

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab: lead
• Center for Caregiver Advancement: collaborator
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: collaborator
• University of Chicago: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

San Bernardino County

San Bernardino, California, 92401, United States

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• Matthew Notowidigdo, PhD

  University of Chicago

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• David Autor, Phd

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Amy Finkelstein, PhD

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Anna Russo

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jesse Gubb, Research Manager, PhD

CONTACT

617-324-6995; ihss.study@povertyactionlab.org

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 14, 2023
• First Posted: January 16, 2024
• Study Start: January 9, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2029
• Last Updated: January 30, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data will become available after publication and will be hosted on a public research data repository such as the Harvard Dataverse (dataverse.org).

Locations

US (1)