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Articles Acknowledge Key Role Played by Immigrants in Long-Term Care
July 31, 2006
Recent features in two major newspapers looked at the opportunities and challenges that arise from the large number of foreign-born workers in long-term care's direct-care workforce.
''Who will Care for U.S. Elderly if Border Closes?'' says a Census Bureau survey counted 254,000 foreign-born workers among a total of 850,000 frontline home-care workers, and that number ''doesn't count many undocumented immigrants caring for people privately.'' The article, which appeared in the July 26 Wall Street Journal, reports that an industry coalition including the American Health Care Association and the National Association for Home Care is lobbying for a new visa aimed at admitting 400,000 low-skilled workers a year. But, it notes, some observers fear that ''filling vacancies with immigrants might depress wages for the lowest paid workers in the field.''
A June 20 article in the Seattle Times says immigrants have been ''reshaping the face of the long-term-care industry'' in and around that city for about the past 15 years. Some Seattle nursing homes, it adds, now report that half their staff is foreign-born.
Most of the residents, administrators and others quoted said the diversity that results from immigration strengthens the culture of their homes and enriches the lives of both residents and staff. However, the article notes, differences sometimes lead to conflict, especially when residents and caregivers don't speak the same language.
Two of the facilities cited address that problem by employing people who don't speak English well in ''positions that don't require contact with residents, such as laundry, housekeeping or kitchen services'' and making available classes in the English language and American culture for those who want to move into caregiving positions.
Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Specialist
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
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