Workplace Instruction Now: Job Related Academic Skills for Eldercare Workers

Assessing the Costs of Poor Job Skills

How would you rate the job skills of your frontline caregivers? Low literacy levels, poor math skills, inability to work without supervision, absenteeism, and overall poor work performance cost businesses billions of dollars each year. In the healthcare industry—where so much depends on workers' ability to read and follow instructions, communicate effectively with co-workers, and demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements—poor job skills contribute to a decline in quality care.

Consider the impact of the following to the care your home provides:

• Employees can't understand, read or follow instructions
• Workers require constant supervision
• Failure to complete assigned duties compromises resident care or safety
• Workers demonstrate low productivity and/or are frequently absent
• Employees receive poor performance evaluations
• Worker turnover is high
• Employees are unable to fulfill daily record keeping responsibilities

Enhancing Performance Through Education

The demand for qualified, experienced employees is now greater than ever. Workplace Instruction Now (WIN) is a 40-hour adult basic education curriculum to enhance employee performance and give healthcare workers the skills they need to be successful. The curriculum is designed to improve workers' critical thinking and problem solving skills, enhance communication, and enable staff to work more effectively as team members.

How the Program Works

The WIN curriculum materials include a student workbook and instructor's companion guide that are customized to the healthcare environment and are designed to increase workers' proficiency in a broad range of job-specific tasks. Regular skill checks measure students' progress in demonstrating competencies covered. Students learn by completing “real life” exercises that depict situations they encounter in the workplace. These exercises are structured to enhance workers' basic reading, writing, communication and math skills and include such topics as:

• Building a working vocabulary of job-related words and abbreviations
• Communicating and listening effectively at work
• Reading to follow instructions
• Understanding whole numbers and whole number operations
• Working with fractions, decimals and percentages
• Calculating weight records
• Determining the percentage of food intake
• Reading thermometers and calibrated measuring devices
• Inventorying linen

The Benefits of WIN Are Clear

For the Facility:

• Improves quality care
• Improves employee retention
• Decreases hiring, orientation and training-related costs
• Improves employee performance, versatility, and productivity
• Eases stress on employee supervisors
• Enhances employee morale and loyalty to facility

For the Participants:

• Improves job and “life” performance
• Provides a foundation for future training and career advancement
• Enhances self-esteem
• Improves job satisfaction

Student Workbook Item Code:    WIN-S
Teacher's Companion Edition Item Code:    WIN-T

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