LOCAL NEWS CARE WORKERS FOR ELDERLY NEED BETTER TREATMENT TO ENSURE BETTER CARE BY DOUG HRDLICKA NURSING HOME RESIDENT RECEIVES A SHOT OF COVID-19 VACCINE AT KING DAVID CENTER FOR NURSING AND REHABILITATION, A NURSING HOME FACILITY, IN BROOKLYN’S BATH BEACH NEIGHBORHOOD IN NEW YORK CITY. CREDIT: REUTERS/YUKI IWAMURA COMING UP WITH SOLUTIONS For care workers whose job is to serve the elderly, their jobs entail more than taking care of older people. Not only must they serve those who may not be able to handle their own basic needs, but they also face physical challenges, long hours, and emotionally-draining work. Melissa Marts is the program development administrator at Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Area, or PPACG. Part of her job is coming up with solutions to everyday tasks some elderly people may not be equipped to solve due to restricted mobility or finances. It could be as simple as organizing a ride, as was the case for a mother and daughter Marts works with. Both women have macular degeneration, a disease that affects their vision. The daughter, who is 60, also suffers from a number of disabilities that restrict her from being able to fulfill daily tasks such as cleaning. The mother is similarly unable to help with those chores. What’s most pressing is the women’s financial challenges. Five years ago, the father died, leaving the property to his wife and daughter. He was the one who took care of the finances and upkeep of the property. The two women grieved for years after his passing, and the responsibilities began to slip. The mother and daughter verged on homelessness before the pandemic paused foreclosures. This story of the mother and daughter is not a fringe scenario, but instead it’s a part of a reality that is quite common. Those who are renting may find their situations even more difficult. For them, the difference between being housed and homeless may be triggered by something as simple as a rent increase. To add to their plight, long-term facilities that accept Medicaid are in short supply and often have a waiting list. “Literally you will find older adults and other individuals on the streets, homeless because they qualify for Medicaid, but they can’t get into a long-term care because there are just so few facilities that take Medicaid,” Marts said. What’s more, elderly people who do not have stable housing often struggle to find roommates because of their age. “Nobody wants a 70-year-old man to move in with them,” said Marts. “Nobody wants a 62-year old woman who has a hard time walking and is on oxygen to move in with them.” There are solutions and people out there who want to help, but for them, it too can be a struggle. This is certainly true for direct care workers. IN NEED OF EMOTIONAL SUPPORT Pascale Adou is a CNA who is also a member of the Direct Care Workforce Collaborative that was formed to advocate for better working conditions for long-term and direct care workers. “The importance and impact direct care workers have on the community is huge. Every day, we have 10,000 people in the country that turn 65 years old, meaning they may need to be taken care of,” said Adou. “Even in the home hospital, HEALTHCARE EDUCATOR RAINELLE WHITE (REAR) CHECKS THE WEIGHT OF CLIENT NORMA FERGUSON IN THE FAMILY VAN IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. CREDIT: REUTERS/BRIAN SNYDER 4 DENVER VOICE September 2021 nursing home long-term facility, they may need care, and we have a big turnover of direct care workforce,” said Adou. The job of direct care and long-term care workers is to provide for elderly who have become too disadvantaged by their age to maintain all aspects of their life. The work is 24 hours a day and can range from basic household needs to bathing and dressing. The job also demands so much from the care worker. Watching people as they reach the end of their lives can weigh on a person over time. “If they don’t have emotional support, they might not be able to provide the care for the consumer. If you’re not emotionally OK, how can you provide care?” Adou asked. BETTER CARE, BETTER JOBS Stressing the poor conditions some care workers face, Adou noted one employee who made as little as $8.75 an hour. But, according to Adou, what’s been most strenuous on these employees is the treatment they’ve received during the pandemic from direct care agencies. “Some of the direct care workforce quit because they were seeing the lives at risk,” explained Adou. “This means they were going to work and using paper towels to cover their noses; they were using kitchen gloves to give enemas to their clients. They saw their lives at risk and also that they were risking the clients’ lives because they had no PPE.” Adou and the Direct Care Workforce Collaborative want these agencies that take advantage of their employees to value them and show that by paying them a livable wage with benefits. But today, there is little the care workers can do, which is why Adou and the Collaborative are pushing the Better Care Better Jobs Act, a bill that will give these workers leverage to negotiate for better conditions. “Direct care workers need to be paid a livable wage, and we need to fight to do that,” said Adou. “We need to get the state legislators together to look into that bill, and that’s what we are doing.” Adou and Marts have partnered to try and bring positive change to the challenges elderly people and their caretakers face, but for now, the situation remains bleak. As Marts explained, “On the terrible end of the spectrum, care workers end up scrambling, calling everyone, trying to find some place for an older adult to live. That happens a lot.” ■
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