When an elderly person needs care, they should be able to get it. This is what most of us would say, but how is that idea working out in reality today? With care homes under increasing pressure and challenges mounting up fast, how does this affect the care elderly people get? To understand where the future of care for the elderly is heading, it’s important to look at what the main problems facing the industry are.
There are many issues that are making it difficult for staff, care home owners and residents alike. Some of them relate to problems that are natural, and others have some about as a result of poor decisions that have been made. Here are those issues explored in-depth, so start reading about them now.
Overworked and Underpaid Staff
It’s common knowledge that people who work in care homes do much longer hours than most other workers. They are often stretched to the max and expected to work more hours than they actually get paid for. Most of them do this gladly because they understand that their job is about helping people. But it certainly not a fair or equitable way to treat people who are doing difficult jobs.
When people are overworked and underpaid, it eventually takes its toll. The staff members will become demoralized, and their work will suffer as a result. To get the best care for residents, care homes need to pay their staff properly and not stretch them too much. Mistakes also tend to get made when staff are tired and working too many hours, so it’s not good for anyone. You can head to http://trofire.com to find out more about the problem.
Lack of Training
A lack of training is a big problem in care homes today. Staff need to be given the right levels of training if they are going to do their jobs well. It is up to employers to make sure that the people they hire have the right qualifications. But when they have been in the job for a while, there will be new skills that they need to be taught. Without this training, standards in care homes can start to slip.
There is an increasing reliance on unskilled employees in care homes. The skilled staff cost more money to employ. So, when money is tight, it’s often the skilled frontline staff whose jobs get put under threat first of all. More investment is needed to make sure that care homes can afford to employ the very best employees with the right skills.
Neglect and Abuse
Neglect is an issue that has many different root causes. Sometimes, understaffing can lead to people not getting the care they would expect from a care home. And on other occasions, neglect occurs as a result of malpractice by care home staff members. Whatever the reason for neglect, there is no excuse for it, and it’s not something that can be accepted. If someone you know has been neglected in a care home, you should take action.
Abuse is an even more serious problem. There have been a number of care home scandals in recent times that have come about as a result of abuse by staff members in care homes. These events are still very rare, but the fact that they’re happening at all is a bad thing. Any victims of neglect or abuse, you should visit a site like www.heardrobinsnewmexico.com/practice-areas/nursing-home-abuse.
Bed Shortages
Bed shortages mean that there are not enough spaces and places in care homes. The demand is far outstripping the supply as things stand. This is one of the largest problems that is currently facing the industry. Without the places to meet the demand, many people will have to go without the residential care that they really need. There are all kinds of other problems, such as falls in the home that come about as a result of this.
When people are forced to stay in their home because of bed shortages, existing care services are stretched too. It means that carers have to make lots of home visits to these people, which is not a convenient arrangement for patients or staff. To put it simply, everyone loses when there is a shortage of beds in the care industry.
Funding Crises
Another thing that the care sector is short of is money. It’s the cornerstone of many of the problems that are building up in the care industry. If there was more money to spend, many of the problems could be solved. Cuts in public funding for care homes are hitting hard in many countries across the world. Without that public money, there is an overall budget deficit that needs to be filled soon.
This deficit is leading to many care homes going out of business. When they can’t pay the bills or pay their staff, they have no choice but to close up. This has a huge impact on the residents who lived in those homes. They, and their families, are often given a short amount of time to find somewhere new to live. And that’s not always very easy to do.
An Aging Population
Compared to thirty years ago, we are all now living six years longer on average. This is obviously a very positive thing for people. It goes to show how much impact the advances in medical treatment are having on us all, even if we don’t realize it. But it’s the care industry that has no become a victim of the medical industry’s success. When people are living longer lives and growing older, then there will be more people in need of care.
This is already having a big impact on stretched services. But this is not something that is going to go away. As the years go by, and medical treatment progresses even further, the impact will be even greater than before. This is something that more attention needs to be paid to because the problem is growing with each passing year.
Changing Needs
There are certain medical problems that are becoming more common in elderly people. These specific needs are increasingly leading to inadequate or unsuitable care being delivered. One of the problems that is more common than ever is Alzheimer’s disease. This is a problem that requires expert medical attention, but it’s hard to find those kinds of care home places for everyone that needs them. That’s just one example of the way needs are changing.
There is also an increased number of people needing care that are not elderly. This puts further pressure on care services and the care industry. This problem clearly has a knock-on effect regarding care for the elderly. The more people that require care services, then the more thinly stretched the care industry will be. Only increased staff levels and other policies will be able to cope with the problem.
Lack of Insurance
Insurance is one thing that could remedy some of the problems that elderly people face when looking for care. Many elderly people are forced to sell their homes and possessions in order to pay for care home fees. This is distressing for them and means that they can be exposed to further hardship when they are already vulnerable. If they all had insurance that covered their future care needs, then they wouldn’t have to do this.
So, by encouraging more people to get this kind of insurance cover, it would be possible to improve the situation. It is hard to persuade people to get this insurance cover when it is for something that is in the distant future. We are not great at planning for our future needs, so it will be a very difficult to overcome. But more must be done to make sure that people can afford their care.
What Can be Done to Improve Care Standards for the Elderly?
Now that all the issues have been looked at closely, it’s time to think about how this can affect the future of care for the elderly. There are, of course, no easy answers or simple solutions. But there are certain things that should be taken into consideration by families and governments. Most of the problems that the care industry is facing right now, and will continue to face in the future, have their roots in money. That’s not to say that more money could solve all the problems out there, but it would certainly make a difference.
For a start, if there were more money being used to fund the care industry, then it would be easy to make more places available. It would also reverse the trend for care homes going out of business. This money isn’t going to grow on a tree though. It’s going to have to come from governments in all countries that are having problems. While there is a lack of public investment, private investment will continue to shrink too. But by improving public investment, external investors will see that there is money in the industry and be encouraged to invest too.
