If you’re not recruiting seniors, you should be
Seniors help fill vacancy for nonskilled workers
Delphine Hengstler has spent much of her life caring for other people. She took care of her ill father when she was young. She also cared for her husband when he was sick and on oxygen.
Now, at age 71, she has turned her experience into a career as a professional caregiver for LifeStyle Options in Schaumburg, IL. "I know the help people have given me, and I wanted to pass it on," Hengstler says.
Hiring seniors as professional caregivers helps lower the tremendous vacancy rate for nonskilled workers, says Karen A. Gunter, RN, MSA, Illinois regional director for LifeStyle Options. "A lot of these seniors living in retirement centers are healthy, independent people. They’re not ready to give up working yet.
"[Working as caregivers] lends itself perfectly to their schedules because they can pick and choose when they want to work and the how much work they want to do," she continues. "It can be as little as one time a week or full time."
Many elderly clients who need personal care and support don’t require skilled or nursing care, Gunter says. Instead, they need companionship and assistance with the activities of daily living. They may need someone to take them to a doctor’s appointment or to keep them from wandering away from home.
"The important point is that the aging population is going to require a heavy load of caregivers," Gunter says. "And [caregivers] are not necessarily people who have to be skilled through formal education. They can be trained by the company, and they make excellent caregivers." (For information on the caregiver shortage in the 21st century, see above.)
CNAs perform strenuous tasks
LifeStyle Options caregivers are trained in such things as safety, first aid, communication with the elderly, and universal precautions for infection control. The caregivers are given tasks that are not physically overwhelming; instead, CNAs are placed on cases that require strenuous or more skilled physical tasks.
Some clients, however, have been concerned about the senior caregivers’ physical abilities, says Gunter. "Some don’t like it because they are afraid that the person doesn’t have the physical strength to take care of them." LifeStyle Options then tries to match clients with their wishes for caregivers, she explains.
Although she works between 25 and 30 hours a week, Hengstler says that in her three years as a caregiver she has often "donated" time to clients off the clock, such as the afternoon she spent taking a client to a hair appointment.
"I give much more time to them than I would if I were out on my own," she says. "I don’t rely on this as a job. I know my needs are being met, and this just supplements my income."
Many clients enjoy having senior caregivers because they feel the caregivers identify with them more, or are more patient, Gunter says. Also, clients may be more motivated when the person caring for them is in their own age group.
Gunter says LifeStyle Options recruits senior caregivers through avenues such as "Are you retired and want some extra work?" ads, human interest stories in local newspapers, and communications with local churches. If agencies are not recruiting seniors, they should be, she says. "They’re a terrific resource."
One publicly traded home health company is looking into providing work for seniors who have income restrictions. In the first quarter of 1997, Star Multi Care in Hollywood, FL, will begin working with some senior organizations that provide jobs for individuals who are over 55 and have limited incomes, says Paul Silitsky, Star Multi Care’s regional vice president for South Florida.
"We are looking into putting together a program for these older individuals that will train them to become home health aides and put them on assignment," he explains. The program would take the seniors who qualify for the training off public assistance programs and put them into jobs that pay with private funds. The training would be paid for by the senior organizations, Silitsky adds.
"We think this is a good community thing to do," he says. "We think there’s an entire population out there that would like to do this. [Aides] might work four-hour shifts three days a week, and this is perfect for individuals who are retired, yet want to keep busy and do a feel good’ type of thing.
"I think there’s a nice fit with hiring seniors to take care of seniors."
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