The Personal Support Worker Program Standard in Ontario: An Alternative to Self-Regulation?

Abstract

Personal support workers (PsWs) provide hands-on assistance in a variety of long-term care and community settings. The question of whether PsWs should become regulated similar to other self-regulating health professions is a perennial concern in policy circles, especially because of the intimate nature of their work and the potential for abuse of clients and workers. This article explores a chain of policy decisions around PsWs in Ontario culminating in the creation of a common educational standard for PsW programs, titled the PsW Program standard. We argue that these policy developments may represent an alternative pathway to self-regulation of an essential workforce.

The evolving role of the personal support worker in home care in O ntario, C anada

“…In Ontario, there are four main routes to become a formally educated PSW, including (1) the public college system, (2) the private career college system, (3) adult or continuing education programmes offered through public or separate school boards, and (4) non‐profit training organisations (Barken et al., ; HPRAC, , Personal Support Network of Ontario, ). In 2014, in an effort to standardise the education of PSWs in Ontario, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities released the Personal Support Worker Program Standard and required all programmes to update and submit a curriculum for approval (Kelly & Bourgeault, ). While this action addresses the newest cohorts of PSWs, exempting those already working in roles from new requirements has resulted in continued variation in the preparation of the PSW workforce (Berta, Laporte, Deber, Baumann, & Gamble, ).…”

The role of unregulated care providers in Canada—A scoping review

“…Education programmes for UCPs are offered by public and private institutions, including online programmes (Kelly & Bourgeault, ). Continuing education programmes are also offered through school boards in some provinces, such as Ontario.…”

“…Continuing education programmes are also offered through school boards in some provinces, such as Ontario. On‐site training can also be provided by some employers (Kelly & Bourgeault, ). There are no national educational standards for UCPs in Canada.…”

“…The Community Care Act (1994) covers a wide range of healthcare workers in the community sector and does not include educational guidelines as some community workers have their own self‐regulatory bodies (e.g., social workers or physiotherapists) (Kelly & Bourgeault, ). The Long‐Term Care Act (2007) governs publicly funded LTC homes and requires PSWs to meet one of the three programme standards, or the new provincial standard, and have at least 3 years of employment experience (Kelly & Bourgeault, ). The Retirement Home Act (2010) includes private retirement homes and requires employers to evaluate various educational credentials and provide on‐site training if needed (Kelly & Bourgeault, ).…”

Exploring experiences of Personal Support Worker education in Ontario, Canada

“…Phase one was a public domain analysis of non‐profit government, and mainstream media materials completed between January and March 2014 and updated for major developments after that period. This analysis resulted in a timeline (Figure ) and description of key policy developments related to PSWs in Ontario, briefly outlined above and more fully considered in two related publications (Kelly & Bourgeault ,b). Phase two, completed between August 2014 and March 2015, included 15 key informant interviews with programme instructors, policy makers and employers of PSWs.…”