The Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care (IAHHC) has unveiled a new employee support program designed to help with retention of much needed workforce resources in end-of-life care.

The association on Wednesday launched Creating Action and Resources for Employees (C.A.R.E.) Connect program, making it available to employees statewide. The program aims to help hospice and home health providers across to establish stronger employee assistance benefits that better align with their individual priorities.

The C.A.R.E. Connect program was in part driven by increasing recognition of the perils of staff burnout and turnover in home health and hospice. Understanding employees’ largest hurdles and having resources available for them is a key part of battling against the workforce shortages proliferating across the continuum, said Tim Scully, director of workforce development at IAHHC.

“What we’re hoping to do is lower turnover rates so that people stay employed and get the added support they need for anything they may encounter on a personal level,” Scully told Hospice News. “The ultimate goal is to increase retention, lower turnover and hopefully have people happy and thriving in their careers as opposed to leaving because they had to, over things that are out of their control.”

IAHHC’s membership includes about 538 home health, hospice and personal care agencies in Indiana that employ a total of roughly 5,000 workers. The association’s staff also help manage the Kentucky Home Care Association (KHCA).

Development of the C.A.R.E. Connect program began in 2021, with Scully joining the initiative in May 2024. The program received $1.1 million in funding from the insurance giant United Healthcare (NYSE: UNH). Humana (NYSE: HUM) served in an advisory capacity as the program has been developed, along with Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM), which has rebranded as Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV).

The program is designed to address some of the largest unmet needs and biggest challenges among today’s hospice and home health workforce. Some of the common reasons why workers leave an organization include a lack of support with child care access, transportation and behavioral and mental health concerns, said Scully.

The program offers hospice and home health employees access to one-on-one consultations to discuss support for housing, legal aid and utility assistance, among other concerns. Consultants connect employees with state, county and other local resources. The consultants also collaborate with employers to assess workforce needs and configure plans for ongoing support.

Among the program’s goals is to share best practices not only among Indiana hospice and home health employers, but also create a roadmap for other organizations nationwide to develop similar supportive structures, he stated.

“We’re hoping that this is low-hanging fruit for us all to look at and hopefully duplicate to other states,” Scully said. “It’s working out the mechanisms for funding and programs that can utilize technology in terms of sharing resources that can help others. A lot of times with employee assistance programs they’re contacting a call center in an entirely different state from where they live. So this program with consultants living in their regions offers more tailored, direct content and information.”