On most days around 2 p.m., home health aide Duane Crichlow can be found in an apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, playing catch with his client — a man in his 30s with a developmental disability who is quick to give Crichlow hugs and kisses. If it’s nice outside, Crichlow will walk his client, who is nonverbal and in a wheelchair half the time, down three flights of stairs, hauling the wheelchair back and forth separately. A 49-year-old Trinidadian who lives in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Crichlow works for St. Nicholas Alliance Home Care, where he earns between $17-$18 per hour. His client likes it when Crichlow imitates Mojo Jojo, a character from the TV series “The Powerpuff Girls,” or tries out Cardi B’s signature catchphrase, “Okurr.” “I do different characters that make him laugh. As long as he’s happy, I’m happy,” Crichlow said.
The City of Stratford is hoping municipalities across the province will join it in urging the Ontario government to shift financial support from long-term care towards home and community care services to help seniors stay in their homes longer as they age. Council heard Tuesday from Paul Brown, a Stratford retiree who spent his career in health-care administration, about the importance of funding community and home-care supports and services in Stratford and Perth County. In his presentation to council, Brown noted the provincial funding for 60 peopleCare long-term care beds had been going unused since a flood closed its Stratford building on Mornington Street in 2015.
As life progresses, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks that come with aging or a disability. In some cases, trying to complete normal day-to-day tasks could also lead to additional health risks and health decline. If you or a loved one is in need of help at home, an in-home caregiver can be an invaluable resource. In-home caregivers provide personalized care and assistance with daily activities, such as meal preparation, light housekeeping, personal care tasks like bathing and dressing, bed lifts, wheelchair access, and even all the way up to full-time live in care. They can also provide companionship for those who are feeling isolated due to health issues or limited mobility. Let's take a closer look at the value of in-home caregivers and what services they offer.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry announced on Wednesday it had recovered $79,000 in unpaid wages from five personal care assistance agencies, which had failed to correctly pay 137 workers. DLI’s Labor Standards unit found the personal care assistance agencies did not correctly pay workers all they were owed. The pay violations include making illegal deductions from employees’ wages; not paying overtime wages; and not paying the temporary pandemic-era wage bump allocated by the state Legislature in 2020.
Experts say the number of people needing in-home care is outnumbering the people who are actually able to care for them. Renee Pfister, owner of Right at Home, said the industry is looking at how technology can step in when people cannot. She said one option being considered is to place sensors around a home that monitor movement. That way, if something is out of the ordinary, an alert would be sent out and people could send help.
With ongoing challenges in the local healthcare system, diversifying services and finding new solutions is more important than ever before. With ongoing challenges in the local healthcare system, diversifying services and finding new solutions is more important than ever before. Changing where and how seniors receive care as they age is one way to provide the services patients need, while easing the strain on local hospitals and medical clinics. In Campbell River, Golden Grove has been helping alleviate some of that pressure by expanding in-home services to local seniors and residents of all ages who are in need of that support. “We have a wide variety of care services available to our clients and we continue to expand those services to better serve our local community,” says Jacklyn Walker, manager at Golden Grove.