Judging by a couple of recent articles in Canadian papers, the issues affecting direct-care workers don’t change much when you cross the border.
A July 25 article in the Prince George Citizen describes a British Columbia public relations campaign that aims to generate interest in direct-care work as a career, which was spurred by “a critical need for care aides and home support workers to care for B.C.’s elderly.”
The article says more than 1,500 qualified graduates are needed immediately to fill current positions in nursing homes, assisted living, and home care. To meet fast-growing demand, the government plants to complete 5,000 new long-term care beds and assisted living units by the end of the year, creating the need for more workers.
The $160,000 B.C. Cares Campaign includes a student loan forgiveness program.
And a July 4 article in The Canadian Press called on Ontario to “turn its understaffed, institutional long-term care homes, where residents are more likely to be restrained and medicated, into small community homes where staff have the time to drink coffee with their elderly charges.”
