Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2012)
August 8, 2012 (Elje Fortiani» (Obstruer __H e AI TH Home Health Care Challenges Demand for workers soars but pay is low (AP) — For the past three years, Taura Tate's mornings have revolved around caring for a woman who suf fers from the effects of a stroke and diabetes. She cooks her oatmeal for breakfast, helps with showers and makes sure she takes the right medi cine. Without the help of a home health aide, the woman, who's in her 70s, would be in a nursing home instead of living on her own. But Tate has her own struggles. Until a recent promotion, her pay amounted to what she could make at McDonald's. She doesn't get health or retirement benefits and has worked at five agencies, some sim ulta neously, to guarantee she'll have enough clients. Demand for home health care work ers is soaring as baby boomers — the 78 million Americans bom between 1946 and 1964— get older and states try to save money by moving people out of more costly nursing homes. But filling more than 1 million new home care positions over the next decade will be a challenge. Most home health aides are paid about the same as maids and mani curists and don't get sick days or health insurance themselves. Many who are self-employed must pay for their own gas for driving to appoint ments and cover their own medical bills if they're hurt on the job. The U.S. Labor D epartm ent projects that home health and per sonal care aides will be among the fastest-growing jobs over the next decade, adding 1.3 million positions and increasing at a rate higher than any other occupation. If those jobs can't be filled, many older Americans are likely to face living with relatives or in nursing homes, which will only cost families and taxpayers more money. Some aides say they have nochoice but to say no when people call look ing for help because they can't afford to take on someone else. Nearly half of all home care work ers live at or below the poverty level, and many receive government ben efits such as food stamps, unions and advocacy groups say. The me- Taura Tate (left), a home care aide since 1999, folds laundry for Crell Johnson, 76, at Johnson's apartment, in Euclid, Ohio. Tate cooks Johnson's oatmeal for breakfast, helps her shower and watches to make sure she takes the right medicine. (AP photo) dian pay a year ago was $9.70 per hour — 4 cents less than fast-food workers and short-order cooks, ac- cording to the most recent statistics from the Labor Department, Agencies that supply home health workers blame states and the federal government for failing to increase reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare patients at a time when costs are going up. Home health services are an easy target for cuts because they're not required by federal law, and legisla tors in states with big deficits say they have no choice but to cut Med icaid spending, the second-costliest item for states behind education. At the same time, some states, including Ohio, are changing how they coordinate medical care and try ing to move some of the most expen sive and hard-to-treat patients into home and community-based settings instead of nursing homes. The result, home care agencies say, is that there's little room for them to make a profit. And that means they can go only so far to attract new workers. MMMI N EW S E A S O N S J BS M A R K E T Sreenings to Prevent Blindness The Oregon Lions Club Sight and Hearing Foundation is working to combat preventative blindness and deafness in the community. Many community members lack ing primary care are unaware they have health conditions that threaten their sight, jobs, quality of life and potentially their lives. The foundation is sponsoring free health screenings this summer with tests for visual acuity, hearing, blood pressure, diabetes (with a 3 hour fast) and glaucoma. Many of the screenings have already been held in the Portland area, but there are still two upcom ing opportunities in which you can participate: Aug. 18 -- Asian Health and Service Center, 3430 S.E. Powell Blvd. 11 a.m.to 4 p.m. (Vision and hearing screenings only.) Aug. 25 -- St. John's Health Fair, Kenton Park, 8417 N Brandon Ave., 11 a.m .to 4 p.m. For additional information, visit olshf.org R IPE HERE, R IPE NOW n ! sw ,- EASY & FUN TO SHOP • SENSIBLY PRICED • LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED A R BO R LODGE • 503.467.4777 Interstate Ave & Portland Blvd CONCORDIA • 503.288.3838 NE 33rd & Killingsworth Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter at N ew SeasonsM arket.com • Connect with us
