According to CareLink the main duties and responsibilities of a Caregiver is Meal Preparation, Household chores, Pet Care, Hygiene Care and Shopping, these are the first descriptive responsibilities you see. April 26, 2022
According to John Hopskins Medicine a Caregiver is summarized as a person who generally provides assistance in meeting the daily needs of another person/ formal or informal, related and non related and tasks include transportation, grocery shopping, housework, preparing meals, assist in dressing, in and out of bed, help with eating and incontinence.
I was not surprised that the important things such as lifestyle continuity, cultural inclusion, and generational engagement was not listed, why? because most organizations seem to think that once a person, mostly an aged individual, or a disabled individual needs for these interpersonal engagements are no longer a top priority, and the priority is health managed care, with grouped activities, individualism no longer has a place.
A caregiver is a professional duty, that requires the ability to work in diverse environments, with diverse personalities and characteristics, with people with diverse likes and dislikes, and a variety of medical diagnosis and age groups.
Caregivers, CNAs Direct Care Workers, and Care Attendants are placed in the same population of individuals and families with the above listed traits but are limited to training, education, with no requirement to have prior experience of the variety that they will be providing "care needs" for, in some settings CPR and First Aid Training is not required.
How does this work? It doesn't, and why there is a shortage of professional Caregivers CNAs, Direct Care Workers, and Care Attendants affecting millions of families in the U.S, it impacts the quality of life, and increased care costs.
According to USNews between 2013 and 2023 the number of available Home Care workers for every 100 patients in need of care has dropped close to 12%
According to my personal experience I am getting family requests from multiple states looking for trained experienced Caregivers offering great compensation and even though I receive a high response to these opportunities, the numbers are low to fit the expectation of what the families are seeking within the state services are needed. My network search of CNAs LPNs and non skilled experienced Caregivers is expanding to Multi-State resources.
Being a Caregiver is a Professional Job Responsibility and if it is continued to be treated as not, with lack of training, education, and compensation the shortage of available Caregivers, CNAs , Direct Care Workers, and Care Attendants will continue to grow.