Cost of Caring
Lately there has been a great deal of talk, about the Harper Economic Plan, and the Tax Cuts he is doling out, for those who plan to renovate their homes. And yet, I wonder, if that is practical, or even helpful, because in order to get a tax savings of a grand or more, you have to spend a fair amount of cash. Now I get the idea, to get people spending, but what about putting the money to where it can actually help people out?
Tax Cuts are okay, when they provide help, relief to those in need. I mean giving a $100 a month for daycare, means zip if the family is earning over a hundred grand, yet can be helpful, if the family earns under thirty grand, but what about home caregivers?
Frankly, I have given up working, other than online, in order to properly care for my Mother. I don’t mind that, in fact in some ways, it is good, because I think my temperment is better suited to being my own boss, but you know, the costs involved in looking after a person, is not cheap.
Take for example a package of depends for women. You get about 16 or 18 pads, depending on the absorbancy, for around $20 per package. With an average change of 4 times per day, a super absorbency package of 16 will last 4 days. That works out to just over SEVEN PACKAGES PER MONTH or $120.00 plus per month.
THAT IS OVER FOURTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR FOR DEPENDS ALONE!
Add into that, sanitary gloves that you need, for changing, for insuring you dont spread any infection to them, or them to you, at about $10 per hundred, and already the bill for the year is rising. Keep in mind, you need 2 gloves for every depend change, which would be at least 8 gloves per day. That means you need at least 2 boxes per month, which is another $20, or $260.00 per year.
ADD into that extra cost for laundry supplies, and bleach, because you have to insure that you kill any germs from urine or feces in her clothes, and you don’t want to spread that to the rest of the household. Factor in the added energy costs for doing more laundry, because you need to use HOT WATER instead of COLD.
Then there is the cost of sanitary garbage bags. I mean you can’t put soiled depends into grocery plastic bags, can you? Not without having a lot of added clean up everytime you empty the special garbage container. They run about $6 per package of 30, which is less than a month’s use. Then there is the need for antiseptic air freshener. I mean the smell is not pleasant, and it does fill the whole household, so you do need a can of lysol or something similar, and that is about $5 per can, and you do use a lot of it.
And yet as a family member, and primary caregiver for my Mother, I cannot claim any of those essentials off my taxes, either Federal or Provincial. I can’t claim the added energy costs, which our Hydro charges me extra for, because I use more than the average household. Like I am going to wash urine soaked nightshirts in cold water? Or not do laundry most every day, because she goes through towels, nightshirts, and housecoats more often, due to her incontinence?
So tax cuts to make your home more valuable, is nice, but what about us, the people in the trenches, who have to give up our jobs, who have to run up and down stairs several times to do laundry, that never seems to end? How about us, who have to figure out whether we can afford a $30 a month video rental fee, or buy that extra package of depends. Both are for her, but sometimes, it gets that close.
WHEN DO WE GET A TAX CUT?
Public Health Care with Private Contracts
When You Forget
Personal Opinion by Ian Kovnats
Copyright © 2009 ◊ All Rights Reserved
I don’t know if it is how it is structured, or if it is simply incompetence, but when a home support forgets to do the basics, the ramifications for the caregiver are multiplied many times over. It isn’t Rocket Science, but simple common sense, which seems lacking today. And I do wonder, is it that people care less, or that they are under some unrealistic time constraints, that lets things slip through the cracks.
Like remembering to replace a soiled undergarment.
As I get older, I know my memory is not at its peak performance level. Part of that is old age, though really fifty four isn’t that old, is it? I think though, that a great deal of my lapses, are due to increased stress. Constant worry over a loved one, over their health and their ability to cope with changes, does weigh heavy on a person’s mind. Least on mine, it does.
Mother is 92, and with a broken wrist, the stress levels are way up there. Stands to reason I suppose, that at times, it gets a bit hard to cope. I mean it isn’t easy to change a pair of soiled depends, that are soaked through with urine, or feces. Yet it is what one must do, and it does get a bit easier, over time.
The smell is the hardest part, but you manage to close your nostrils, or at least pretend it isn’t that bad. Truth is, it is that bad, and smell is a powerful sense. Not sure if you can ever truly get used to it, but what is the alternative?
I suppose you can hire someone else to do it, assuming you have that kind of cash laying around, but if you don’t? Then what? You certainly can’t leave the person for hours in their own urine, feces, though I suppose some animals will do that, but then, how can they say they care? I just can’t do it, nor has the notion ever crossed my mind, so I wonder, how can someone supposedly trained in home support, forget to deal with that basic element?
When one’s task is to wash and clean a person, how can you forget a simple chore, like replacing a soiled pad, panty, depend, or whatever? I mean would be rather standard, don’t you think? Yet today, that is exactly what happened. The assigned worker this morning, arrived late. That sort of set the tempo, I guess.
It is my fault too, because I know that this morning’s worker was not what I’d call the A Team, not even the C Team really. Nice enough lady, but not qualified, by any stretch of the imagination. She tries, which is nice, but this lady needs to attend an intensive course in how to care for an elderly patient.
And let’s stop this name calling. People under Home Care, are NOT CLIENTS. THESE PEOPLE ARE PATIENTS IN NEED OF CARE, NOT MISTREATMENT, NOT GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT HONEST PROPER CARE.
I am serious about this. We use euphemisms so as to avoid the guilt of screwing up, when we do. It is a lot easier to ignore that we are making mistakes, when it is just ‘a client’ versus ‘a patient’.
When I have to step in, to help get Mother out of bed, so as to avoid stressing her out, to avoid possible injury, I think it should be obvious, that the worker needs some refresher course, at best. You cannot allow ON THE JOB TRAINING when the PATIENT IS 92.
My mistake this morning, was to take the time to sit down, to fix breakfast for Mom, and just grab a few minutes to myself. I should have stayed close by, to insure that she did manage to properly clean Mom up, and yes, to make sure she dressed her properly.
To be honest, my real mistake is to have allowed Beacon Community Services send anyone. I should have bitten the bullet, and refused to allow them to send in their untrained personnel, for the care of my mother. That is a mistake I intend to rectify.
Now to be fair, several of those coming to the home are good. I really have had only two people, who I simply would not let in the door a second time, while the majority I find are very pleasant, and willing. However, the bottom line is that they are here to help my mother, to give me an hour break, not add to my workload.
Patricia Donaldson has done a remarkable job, in helping to solve the inconsistency of new workers. Least it looks that way, though it could simply be that they have run out of new workers to send. Yes, I am being sarcastic, but in all honesty, I do think Patricia has tried her best to accommodate me, and still keep to company policy.
That said, I also think a lot more needs to be done, in order to provide safe and quality workers for those patients in need. Training does seem to be minimal, at best, despite all the assurances from every avenue, and yet I wonder, do they even know what training any particular worker actually has?
Did they graduate at the top of the class, or the bottom? Did the company who passed them, ever fail anyone? Was it that they made the grade, after a second try, third, or fifth attempt at the course?
The point is this. As a result of forgetting a simple thing, like replacing soiled undergarments (depends in this case) Mother sat in her own urine. Her ability to tell if she is wet, is a bit, well, less proficient than you or I would be. So she sat in it, for God only knows how long.
Then in going back to her room, the trail of urine now dots the carpet, which means cleaning. Not a big deal, but you know, when one is already exhausted from doing this 24/7, it is a big deal. As well, more laundry, including now her shoes, is on tap for the day, when it wasn’t scheduled. It had all been done yesterday, so this was to be a day free of laundry.
Laundry means running up and down stairs. Not hard for someone healthy, like me, but when you are already run down, it is a chore, one would love to avoid. Not what you can do, such as today.
Now all that, the change from a wet nightshirt, a soiled nightgown, shoes, is not all that big of a deal. Nor is the added laundry, but in order to do all that, you have to remove the old, replace with clean. You also then have to wash, and wipe, and I am a guy, not a girl, so there is the embarrassment for her, which is unnecessary. It is also why Beacon Home Support is here.
Fact of the matter is, urine can burn. When you have skin that is already not in the best of condition, the added discomfort is not what you want to have happen. Hence, why I perhaps am making a big deal out of this, but I have to wonder, what about those poor souls, who don’t have a 24/7 caregiver like Mom has? What about those who don’t have a son or daughter willing to take that task on?
How are they faring?
I am not on a witch hunt, because like I have stated, the overall majority of those coming into our home, are nice and enjoyable people. The problem lies in that the training or experience level is not what it should be. AND that is what causes the problems.
With older people, it takes them a lot longer to get over something as minor as piddling in their pants, if they have them on. It takes them more time to recover from things like a burning skin or rash, due to the acid of laying in their own urine. It takes the little strength they have, to combat something that shouldn’t be.
Bull In A China Shop
Even though Mythbuster’s showed that a bull in a china shop actually is more careful than one would expect, it is an old saying, implying crashing and bumping and breaking of things. While a broken dinner plate is just that, it isn’t the case with people. Grab them too hard, push them too hard, and bones break.
When you have Brittle Bones (osteoporosis) it is even more important to take care when you lift, turn, or twist a person. How you hold them counts big time into protecting them from unnecessary damage.
I suppose what frustrates me the most, is not knowing just what qualifications these home support workers have. Are they trained to any degree? I know from one worker, she had a full year’s of training, and was saying how today, new workers receive about a month at a community type college setting.
So how did what took a year, suddenly be able to be condensed into a single month long course?
Do they show them the right way to hold a person? I rather doubt it, from what I have seen of the support workers provided by Beacon Community Services. In fact, I worry more now, about how safe Mother is, under their care, than when it was just up to me. AND, that isn’t how it is supposed to work, now is it?
Family or caregivers, of a loved one, are asked to place a great deal of trust in these private support services. I know that to be working for the Government, there are proper qualifications that have to be met, and even though some sneak through, for the most part, they have the skills.
What assurances do I have that, that is the case with these Privately Hired & Paid Workers?
