The ongoing pandemic has once again exposed the serious shortage of caregivers for people with disabilities in the U.S. and possibly across the world as the unprecedented health crisis continues to disrupt and change the world as we know it.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities often rely on in-home caregivers for help with daily tasks, including budgeting and preparing meals. These workers, known as direct support professionals, have become even more important while clients are isolated at home.
According to news reports, the pandemic is putting pressure on an already-fragile industry, weakened by low wages and high employee turnover.
A news report from Washington, Missouri, highlights an indicative situation of the caregivers and the impact of the ongoing pandemic.
Just a few months ago, LuAnn Cooper and her client Margie went on lots of outings together — exercising at the gym, grocery shopping, getting ice cream. But the pandemic put a stop to those trips.
Margie, who has a developmental disability, hasn’t been able to leave her home in Washington, Missouri, since March. Lately, she and Cooper have found a new way to pass the time: birdwatching.
“That’s kind of like a hobby for me now,” said Margie (we’re not using her last name to protect her privacy). The songbirds that visit her feeder, she added, are “just beautiful.”
Cooper began working as a direct support professional about two years ago after a friend recommended she apply for a job with Emmaus, a faith-based nonprofit that coordinates care for adults with developmental disabilities in eastern Missouri.
“I had been a secretary my whole life,” said Cooper, who has multiple sclerosis. “But my hands were starting to go numb and my vision was getting worse, so I said, ‘I need something different that doesn’t require a lot of typing.’”
There is a serious shortage of workers who help care for people with developmental disabilities in their homes, which will only be compounded by the current crisis.
She now helps care for seven adults with disabilities in two separate homes — cooking meals, cleaning, administering medication, and bathing. Normally, she said, there should be at least two workers on duty per shift, but due to a staff shortage, she often works alone.
Juggling the care of three to four adults can quickly become a “running around kind of situation,” Cooper said.
“The challenge is when one in a wheelchair says, ‘I gotta go to the bathroom.’ Well, I have to help her, but I’ve got one that’s got to be in the shower,” Cooper explained. “I can’t be in both places at one time.”
Emmaus employs more than 500 direct support professionals across the St. Louis region, said Cindy Clark, president, and CEO, but they’re still about 200 workers short.
Before the pandemic, if someone called in sick or went on vacation, the nonprofit could shift workers among households. But that strategy has become too risky, Clark said, because it could expose more workers and residents to the virus.
