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LETTER: Better pay, tuition incentives could resolve PSW shortage, reader says

'There are many people in our community who could become PSWs if they had the proper incentives,' writes Sandra Rousseau
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SooToday has received the following copy of a letter sent to Sault MP Terry Sheehan and MPP Ross Romano from Sault resident Sandra Rousseau who is concerned about the future of care for our aging population:

Dear Sirs:

Re:  College partnership to address PSW shortage in the Sault

I read the above-noted article published on Sooday.com on Feb. 15, 2019.

Searching abroad for personal support workers (PSW/PSWs) is not an “innovative approach to solving a local labour shortage.”

I have had extensive observation over the past nine years, on a weekly basis, to observe the role of PSWs both in a friend’s home and in an assisted living residence.

As our population ages, here and elsewhere in Canada, a new model needs to be determined as to how to keep aging people in their own residences, and to provide adequate assistance in long-term facilities.

The first impediment to becoming a PSW is low pay. It is only after many years of service and as members of a union that PSWs will earn a wage sufficient to live on.

PSWs who work in an assisted living establishment do not have sufficient time to properly provide attention to the residents. The PSWs are required to rush through their work to be able to care for each care receiver.

Those who provide home care earn minimum wage or slightly more than that. PSWs must travel between care recipients and are not paid for the time they are travelling. They need a reliable vehicle but cannot afford same on their basic incomes. Example: I know a care recipient who was discharged very recently from the hospital after having had surgery for a broken hip. The PSW drives almost out of the Sault to get to his home and then is allowed 45 minutes to assist him in bathing and preparation of a meal. That PSW then travels to another care recipient.

Where is the incentive for the mileage and gas for her vehicle? There is no incentive. Travelling time is not paid. Therefore, the PSW spends an amount of time each day out of her own pocket just to help care recipients. Travelling could take up half her workday.

Apart from travelling to a care recipient’s residence, the PSW may also be required to purchase items from a grocery store and then be reimbursed by the care recipient, put the purchases away, and then cook a meal. The PSW must also phone her employer each time she arrives a care recipient’s home.

While with the care recipient, the PSW may need to assist with a bath which can involve supporting the care recipient’s weight or even lifting. The PSW will change the bedding, put laundry into a washing machine, and if the PSW is there long enough, will remove the laundry after it has dried, fold it and put it away.  The list is lengthy as to what a PSW may be required to do.

I am a senior citizen, age 69, who assists an even older citizen, age 83, who ambulates with a rollator. I clean her apartment, change her bed, process laundry, purchase necessities for her, drive to her doctor appointments, x-ray appointments. I deal with telephone and cablevision problems by attending at Shaw to determine how to fix the problems. The list is endless. I do not charge her anything. Fortunately for her, I am simply a friend who is happy to help her. She had previously resided in an assisted living residence but was extremely unhappy there. The PSWs there were excellent; however, a few hours could pass by without anyone checking on her. The management was very poor and definitely not friendly. She now lives on her own in an apartment, is happy, and living well. 

There is a simple, effective way to increase the number of PSWs. I would suggest, instead of travelling to a foreign country and its attendant costs, that the following seriously be considered:

  1. Have counsellors at the college interview potential PSWs to determine if they would be a good choice to deal with seniors or other persons needing care.
  2. Provide free tuition. The college could be reimbursed by the government. If the college brings in students from a foreign country, I suspect that the student tuition would be double so that it is the college that is making on this deal.
  3. Provide a decent amount for living expenses while the student is at college for the PSW course. The fact that it is a one-year course does not mean that a person can go without income while attending the course. Employment Insurance may not cover the cost of living. Many Canadians are against our government bringing people from Syria into Canada and supporting them for a year. I have no problem with this; however, if Canada can afford to do this, then Canada needs to find a way to support people while they take the PSW course which will benefit our health care system and reduce its costs.
  4. Ensure that the beginning wage for a PSW is $20 per hour, given they are providing an essential service, which service will be vastly in-demand in the coming years.
  5. Ensure that the PSW is paid for travelling time. I know of no other service where people spend half of their workday without pay.
  6. Give the PSW the benefit of not paying provincial income tax for a set number of years. Likewise, the federal government can do without receiving income tax from these people for a few years and only require that they pay CPP and EI.
  7. PSWs require a reliable vehicle and should also be compensated at 41 cents per kilometre, either on their pay cheques or by monthly reimbursement from one of our governments. 
  8. No doubt, the entity that employs the PSWs will complain that the cost of employing PSWs to prohibitive. One of our governments should be required to subsidize the employer. Large corporations are subsidized in one way or another so that assisting health care entities should be no different.
  9. There should be no impediment to PSWs being self-employed when providing in-home care. There is no need for middle administration to be involved when PSWs have been properly trained at the college. In addition, people need full time, not part time work.

There are many people in our community who could become PSWs if they had the proper incentives. The Second Career program is only helpful for people who are laid off. Many people are underemployed but are never laid off. 

Building more long-term care establishments is not an economic answer except for care receivers who are bed-ridden or suffer from dementia.

My opinion is that the only entity that will do well by recruiting outside the country is the college. Apart from that, there is no guarantee that a graduate PSW will stay in our city.

Please do not send me a prepared list of what the government is providing for its citizens because that is not a suitable answer to what is outlined in this letter. 

Yours truly,
Sandra Rousseau


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