More than Technology: The Best Labor Strategies for Independent Living

By GoodLife Innovations, Inc.

It’s no secret that our nation is facing a direct support workforce crisis. In 2017, the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) issued a report to the President outlining this important issue. The intended outcome of this Report was to ensure the Administration is fully aware of and understand the effects of the direct support workforce crisis. Furthermore, to outline the opportunities to address it in ways that strengthen the ability of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to both participate in and contribute to their communities, including the promising practice of using technology to empower individuals with I/DD to be as independent as possible.

Laser-Focused on Solutions

GoodLife Innovations is laser-focused on solutions to help people live as independently as possible and add stability to agencies that are facing greater costs, more administrative oversight, and a shrinking workforce. That is why Dr. Mike Strouse, GoodLife CEO, has worked for over three decades to develop and use innovative workforce strategies to help community service providers effectively manage direct labor cost while providing best practice supports for a variety of dependent populations. GoodLife has partnered with agencies in Kansas and across the country to integrate technology within service models so providers stand a chance against the coming labor crisis.

More Than a Technology Partner

While GoodLife has developed technology innovations that address workforce concerns, we offer much more than a one-time technology solution. The real problem providers face is deploying labor, yet simply fitting off-the-shelf devices inside a home creates a disconnect between the technology, the provider, and the person served. It is vital now more than ever that, as providers, we don’t sacrifice personal connections for a better bottom line. This is why GoodLife focuses on building technology solutions from the ground up that prioritizes human care across an agency-wide infrastructure within our service model.

As a provider and innovator in non-traditional service models and approaches, GoodLife is perfectly poised to help other agencies reimagine their approach to labor and direct support staffing models. They too can save money across the agency, pay staff better, have lower turnover, provide higher quality care and cultivate a culture that emphasizes the importance of the human touch.

GoodLife’s solution to the labor crisis is getting the right people in the right place at the right time to save money. With technology we can detect needs and deploy help so staff can be utilized only when and where required. This is much more cost-effective than paying someone to wait around for a need to arise.

Providers across the country are asking for solutions, and the real benefit will be the combination of GoodLife’s labor strategies and technology. We are already seeing providers engaged in the process, utilizing our consultations to pivot and make changes at the institutional level that will benefit their direct support staff and persons served.

Learn how you can partner with GoodLife to unlock and implement labor solutions within your agency.

Contributed by staff writers at GoodLife Innovations. For more information contact [email protected] and visit our website at mygoodlife.org​.