GUELPH – Thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Education, the Upper Grand District School Board’s (UGDSB) 2022 Personal Support Worker (PSW) Program is being offered tuition-free.
Those enrolled in the PSW Program can also receive paid work placements, in addition to free tuition.
The PSW Program, run through the UGDSB’s Continuing Education department, is led by instructors holding Ontario teaching and professional nursing qualifications.
“It is a full-time program offered in a part-time manner,” said Julie Bodiam, principal of the UGDSB Continuing Education program.
“So it still allows our learners to work during the theory portion and they don’t have to give up their day job in order to come to school.”
The program, which the UGDSB first began offering in the fall of in 2019, runs from September to June at the Tytler Centre for Continuing Education in Guelph.
The upcoming 2022-23 school year will be the second year the grant is being offered by the Ministry of Education. Grant amounts are based on the program’s enrolment and paid placements.
According to a May 24 UGDSB press release, the program covers several areas, including anatomy, physiology, mobility, safety, hygiene, abuse identification and reporting, household management, care planning, cognition, mental health, managing ongoing conditions, assisting with medications, palliative care, interpersonal skills and career education.
“The one difference between this program and a community college program is that they can also get their high school diploma at the same time if they don’t have it,” Bodiam explained.
“So it opens the door to that profession for students that would not have had access that way at a community college.”
In addition to completing the PSW Program, participants gain numerous certifications, including CPR and First Aid, as well as marketing skills, employer contacts and work experience, the release adds.
Bodiam said there’s definitely been a need for the program, noting that in the three years the board has been offering it, they’ve had 100 per cent of learners that apply secure jobs.
“During the pandemic, there was a huge need, especially when in the early days of the pandemic PSWs could not work in more than one location,” she explained. “So that created a huge need.”
Bodiam added that with the workload of registered nurses and practical nurses through the pandemic, PSWs were also able to help with the burnout they were experiencing.
“So the province definitely still has a need,” she said.
“I think that that’s been evident in the money that they’ve put behind supporting these programs and encouraging people to enrol in these programs to get certified.”
Bodiam said offering the program through the board has also expanded accessibility by having the option available for students to complete their high school diploma, in addition to its location.
“Being located in Guelph, they don’t have to go to Kitchener to do their theory work as they would have had to through the college,” she explained.
“So it’s a localized program. And then they get to do their placements in Guelph, which is where they would want to work.”
Bodiam said in 2021-22, the first year the grant was offered, the program started out the in the fall with higher enrolment numbers than in previous years, but with the ongoing effects of the pandemic, enrolment dropped down to the 20 mark.
She added that, ideally, the board would like to see enrolment numbers between 25 and 30.
“We’d like it to be very small and intimate so that they get the help they need,” she said.
To learn more about the PSW Program and to register, visit pswcareer.ca.
“This is a fulfilling and valuable profession and I’m really excited that we have people out there that are kind and caring and willing to do the hard work that provides these adults dignity in their later years in life,” Bodiam said.
“So it’s just really a great opportunity that we can reach more people to take the certificate.”
