It’s no secret that we are experiencing a labor shortage here in the United States. One of the places where this is most visible right now is in the realm of senior care. Not only are there a lot of job openings in this field, but care services are finding that they need to restructure employee compensation to attract and retain staff. To say that a care shortage is in place is very accurate for a large portion of our country right now.
In many locations throughout the country, National Guard soldiers have been deployed to assist with some aspects of care. In assisted living facilities and nursing homes, National Guard troops have been used to help with things like clerical assistance, building maintenance, screening visitors, and other non-clinical issues. Rather than fall behind or put residents in a dangerous situation, these people have been deployed to ensure that the vulnerable residents of these facilities do not suffer from a lapse in care or supervision and fill in where they are able to. This is an emergency measure though, and is not sustainable over the long term.
The U.S. is experiencing a care shortage in many communities regardless of what it might look like.
A care shortage will look different depending on the various needs of your loved one and how those needs are currently being met. However, regardless of what it looks like, it can be detrimental to both physical and mental health. Having a plan in place to keep your loved one safe is important, but again, this will vary based upon the individual.
One of the best ways to help ensure that your loved one is getting the care and attention that they need is to get some training yourself. Because it is so much cheaper to employ an in-home caregiver than to send a loved one to another location to receive care, many insurance companies even pay for the cost of this training and will even provide a small stipend for helping a loved one out. This might be worth having a discussion with your insurance representative about if it is of interest.
Relying on a professional in-home care service might also be a strong choice. This is where a service like ours steps in and helps care for a loved one in their own home on a one to one basis. The care shortage can certainly impact you and your family even in this setting, though. For example, if you are interested in finding in-home care and the services in your area do not have enough staff on hand, you are likely to be placed on a waitlist until a spot opens up.
We’re not sure what your particular community looks like or what supports have been set up near you to help prevent issues like this from happening. But we do know the Bay Area well and would love to help guide you and your family through this process. Finding the right care for a loved one doesn’t have to be a mystery. More than likely, you do have resources in your community designed to help. If you would like our help, please feel free to reach out–one of our trained professionals would love to be of assistance.
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