Skills of Workers in Long-Term Residential Care: Exploring Complexities, Challenges, and Opportunities

Changing resident and staff populations, along with political economic reforms, call for new insights into the kinds of skills needed to work in long-term residential care (LTRC). This paper explores the skills of three occupational groups in LTRC: direct care workers, nurses, and doctors. We highlight complexities and ambiguities that exist regarding the training, roles and responsibilities, and integration of these occupational groups, and consider how race and gender relations shape assumptions regarding the skills of different workers. This paper synthesizes presentations and discussions from a workshop titled 'Skills for Longterm Residential Care,' held in Toronto, Canada in May 2015. Presentations drew on ethnographic research in LTRC facilities across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, and Germany, as well as the practical experience and knowledge of representatives from Canadian unions and professional organizations. We highlight conditions needed to ensure workers have the appropriate skills to care for an aging population, and raise questions to be addressed to develop a sustainable, highly skilled LTRC workforce.