by Dean Mosiman
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
Newer research suggests that elder abuse, like many other forms of abuse, is usually motivated by a desire for power, control or money.
Case study
The state added 20 more names to the Caregiver Misconduct Registry in August, the most recent posting. Over the summer, listings included: a caregiver who got upset with a client, forcibly grabbed her by the arm and took her to her room; another who made $950 in unauthorized purchases on a resident's credit card; and another who cursed at and threatened to kill a resident. About 10 names are added to the list each month and, since 1992, at least 1,560 names have been added to the registry.
Caregiver training and workloads vary widely among agencies and facilities — the care ranging from poor to excellent.
And some caregivers have no business in the health-care field, Hanrahan said. They lack the right temperament and patience, are abusive or exploitative opportunists, or are "simply indifferent to the suffering of others," he said.
The state routinely inspects nursing homes only once every nine to 15 months and assisted living every two years or longer — a long time for a bad caregiver to do harm, experts said. Although the state responds quickly to complaints, elderly victims are often afraid to speak up because they are afraid of retribution, they said.
There's also no comprehensive, national system for checking out caregivers, though a system was recently proposed by U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. Its prospects in Congress are uncertain …..
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
Newer research suggests that elder abuse, like many other forms of abuse, is usually motivated by a desire for power, control or money.
Case study
The state added 20 more names to the Caregiver Misconduct Registry in August, the most recent posting. Over the summer, listings included: a caregiver who got upset with a client, forcibly grabbed her by the arm and took her to her room; another who made $950 in unauthorized purchases on a resident's credit card; and another who cursed at and threatened to kill a resident. About 10 names are added to the list each month and, since 1992, at least 1,560 names have been added to the registry.
Caregiver training and workloads vary widely among agencies and facilities — the care ranging from poor to excellent.
And some caregivers have no business in the health-care field, Hanrahan said. They lack the right temperament and patience, are abusive or exploitative opportunists, or are "simply indifferent to the suffering of others," he said.
The state routinely inspects nursing homes only once every nine to 15 months and assisted living every two years or longer — a long time for a bad caregiver to do harm, experts said. Although the state responds quickly to complaints, elderly victims are often afraid to speak up because they are afraid of retribution, they said.
There's also no comprehensive, national system for checking out caregivers, though a system was recently proposed by U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. Its prospects in Congress are uncertain …..
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Source: Wisconsin State Journal
Source: Wisconsin State Journal
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Instead of waiting for another local report, our own government must learn from the difficulties and mistakes of other countries. Politicians are elected in a democracy, to represent the interest of the population. If they do not take heed of the citizens needs and 'pleas for change' ; they WILL be voted out at the next election.
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