The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services has completed a guide for providers who want to employ
dining assistants in their facilities. After a drawn out battle, CMS
agreed five years ago to allow the use of paid feeding
assistants––provided they achieve a certain level of training and
have the approval of the state.
Yet despite what was seen as a big
victory for providers – because they would no longer have to use
higher paid nursing staff to assist with many feeding tasks -- they
have been relatively slow to train or use the assistants, federal
regulators say.
“We believe this is due to the
limited resources currently available to educate decision-makers on
designing and implementing dining assistant programs, and
insufficient understanding of the advantages to the resident” and
operators, report authors explain.
“Dining Assistant Programs in Nursing
Homes: Guidelines for Implementation” is available through the
American Health Care Association Web site here.
The 138-page guide leads providers through a step-by-step process for
assessing their options and resources, as well as how to set goals
and implement a sustaining program.