Wisconsin Journal runs lengthy series on elder abuse
Part Six, which ran today, discusses caregiver shortages:
To countless elders, paid and unpaid caregivers provide companionship and invaluable help with eating, taking medicine, bathing, toileting and safety. But sometimes, those caregivers abuse, neglect and steal in the ultimate betrayal of the most vulnerable among us. Government’s efforts to support good caregivers and protect the elderly from bad ones fall short, the Wisconsin State Journal learned in an eight-month investigation of elder abuse in the state. Among the findings:
• Government has no system to check for abuse by volunteers, who bear most of the caregiving burden in the U.S. And they don’t get enough support, training or respite, which increases the chances of stress and harm to elders.
• Professional caregivers, such as nursing aides, get poor pay, benefits and inadequate training, which leads to high turnover, poor screening and bad care.
• The system to oversee professional caregivers has gaps. There is no national system for background checks, and state rules give some abusive caregivers a chance to again work in long-term care facilities.
• Communities will face shortages of professional caregivers due to expected changes in the work force, and their role will grow as the population of frail elderly balloons in the coming decades.
“I don’t know how it can’t be a crisis at this point,” said John Schnabl, chairman of the Wisconsin Long-Term Care Workforce Alliance, a group of private and public organizations that advocates on behalf of caregivers.
Read more here: http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/index.php?ntid=254785&ntpid=1
Access the series at http://www.madison.com/wsj/spe/elder/