Elder Care in Crisis: How the Social Safety Net Fails Families

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the crisis in caring for elderly people, with government policies based on an ethic of family responsibility and direct care workers receiving little respect, remuneration, or job security. Elder Care in Crisis examines the availability and quality of respite care, the long process of deciding whether to move spouses and partners to institutions, and the likelihood of caregivers engaging in political action to demand greater public support. The pandemic has also provided an impetus for change and helped activists and scholars develop a vision of a future in which care is central to social life.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 01 October 2022
Publisher: New York University Press

Caring for elderly people is a significant challenge that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Government policies are based on an ethic of family responsibility, but this has left many family caregivers without access to publicly funded long-term care services. This has led to a crisis in caring for elderly people, with many family caregivers unable to find relief from the obligations that threaten to overwhelm them. The crisis also stems from the plight of direct care workers, who are mostly women from racially marginalized groups and receive little respect, remuneration, or job security.

Drawing on an online support group for people caring for spouses and partners with dementia, Elder Care in Crisis examines the availability and quality of respite care, the long, tortuous process through which family members decide whether to move spouses and partners to institutions, and the likelihood that caregivers will engage in political action to demand greater public support. When the pandemic began, caregivers watched in horror as nursing homes turned into deathtraps and then locked their doors to visitors. Terrified by the possibility of loved ones in nursing homes contracting the disease or suffering from loneliness, some caregivers brought them home. Others endured the pain of leaving relatives with severe cognitive impairments at the hospital door and the difficulties of sheltering in place with people with dementia who could not understand safety regulations or describe their symptoms. Direct care workers were compelled to accept unsafe conditions or leave the labor force.

At the same time, however, the disaster provided an impetus for change and innovation. Many caregivers have become more aware of the need for long-term care services and have become more vocal in their demands for greater public support. There have been calls for increased funding for long-term care services, as well as for policies that would provide greater job security and remuneration for direct care workers. There have also been calls for greater recognition of the importance of direct care work and for policies that would support the development of a more skilled and diverse workforce.

In conclusion, caring for elderly people is a significant challenge that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Government policies are based on an ethic of family responsibility, but this has left many family caregivers without access to publicly funded long-term care services. This has led to a crisis in caring for elderly people, with many family caregivers unable to find relief from the obligations that threaten to overwhelm them. The crisis also stems from the plight of direct care workers, who are mostly women from racially marginalized groups and receive little respect, remuneration, or job security. However, the disaster has also provided an impetus for change and innovation, and there have been calls for increased funding for long-term care services, as well as for policies that would provide greater job security and remuneration for direct care workers.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479815388