Application of the Fair Labor Standards Act to Domestic Service. Thanks to Bob King of Legally Nanny for posting this link on Facebook.
Author Archives: Jane MacKenzie
Home Care Agency Owner Finds Caregiver Training Invaluable « News and Opinions « Direct Care Alliance
I am always happy to hear of an agency owner who maintains a high standard. Training (and oversight of the worker) is essential. Home Care Agency Owner Finds Caregiver Training Invaluable « News and Opinions « Direct Care Alliance.
California officials vow to crack down on underground economy – latimes.com
California officials vow to crack down on underground economy – latimes.com. Thanks to Bob King of Legally Nanny for posting this on LinkedIn.
Nancy Folbre: The Depreciation of Care at Home – NYTimes.com
Another perspective on this issue. Nancy Folbre: The Depreciation of Care at Home – NYTimes.com.
Need for health aides soon will be mushrooming – San Antonio Express-News
This article primarily refers to the home care needs of MediCaid recipients. Salary and working conditions through home care agencies, catering to the affluent, are not much better (if better at all).
“These are the fastest-growing jobs in the nation, but theyre really poor-quality jobs,” said Deane Beebe, spokeswoman for Paraprofessional Health Care Institute, or PHI, an advocacy group for direct-care workers. “What concerns us is that the quality of the care dispensed can really be impacted negatively by quality of the job.”
via Need for health aides soon will be mushrooming – San Antonio Express-News.
Caring for Our Caregivers
“Our system for caring for our aging population is buckling. Six million seniors need daily assistance to live outside of a nursing home, and that number will double by the year 2030. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we have less than a million home health care aides in our workforce. They make about $21,000 a year, and these caregivers often have no health care themselves. That’s wrong. This shortage of qualified, well-paid professionals is one reason why four in five seniors who need daily care get it from loving members of their family.” via Caring for Our Caregivers.
Retired Seniors Might Be the Answer to Americas Aging Problem
Marki Flannery: Retired Seniors Might Be the Answer to Americas Aging Problem. YES! My thoughts exactly. Must check out Partners in Care.
The Limits of Empathy – NYTimes.com
The Limits of Empathy – NYTimes.com. “Other scholars have called empathy a “fragile flower,” easily crushed by self-concern.” I have many times considered the role of empathy since I’ve been working with seniors. Some people (and senior services organizations) seem to have lots of empathy and some have very little (that “crushed by self-concern” thing) IMHO. It is challenging to set boundaries balancing empathy and concern for the often unmet needs of the care recipient (patient, client or resident), while maintaining a professional and mentally healthy distance. Lay persons have little training in “dissociation” which healthcare and social services professionals seem to have in varying degrees. Learning how to care the right amount - without caring too much or too little – is a work in process in my personal experience with seniors.
How to Put More Jobs in the American Jobs Act « News and Opinions « Direct Care Alliance
How to Put More Jobs in the American Jobs Act « News and Opinions « Direct Care Alliance. “If we invest in putting people to work delivering social care services—shoring up our crumbling social infrastructure by adding jobs in professions like direct care—we can begin to crawl our way back to full employment, while providing vitally needed services and doing more to help those who are least able to weather the current non-recovery recovery.”
