Visiting care site Accelerating the lack of human resources “My heart is breaking” 20:03 on April 22
In the field of home-visit nursing care, which was originally supported by elderly helpers due to a lack of manpower, there are cases in which it is necessary to take leave from work considering the risk of infection to the helpers themselves, which is adding to the shortage of human resources. .
Kyoko Takiguchi, who is the director of “Tokyo Care,” a home-visit care business in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, responded to more than 1,000 requests a month with about 30 helpers. In home-visit care, where the shortage of manpower is particularly serious among the nursing care sites, helpers in their 70s and older are also at the front line of support, and there are three elderly helpers in their 70s and older at this site.
However, after the state of emergency was declared based on the law in seven prefectures such as Tokyo, two of them made an offer, "I want you to take a break from work." One of them had a chronic illness and was strongly opposed by their family members to continue working because they could be infected with the new coronavirus during their nursing work.
The two veterans with more than 10 years of experience were indispensable to the business establishment, but they had to ensure the safety of both users and helpers, and they said, "Maybe they should retire. As a result, Takiguchi unavoidably decided to take two helpers off until the 6th of next month.
Often a helper visits the user's home alone, and has to deal with various things such as preparing meals, checking physical condition and taking medication, etc. within a limited time. With the spread of voluntary holidays for day services, the number of elderly people who have been at home for a long time is increasing, and the number of requests for food and shopping support is increasing, making the site even busier.
Mr. Takiguchi manages to change the shift every day so that the users are not affected, but the burden on each helper is only increasing.
Mr. Takiguchi said, `` If such a situation continues for a long time, elderly helpers who have continued to work while thinking that they should be retired someday because they are old age will accelerate the feeling that they will retire. It's very anxious.Nursing care is just as difficult as it is in medical care, but the helpers are breaking their hearts because the light is not shining.The most demanded improvement in treatment is not immediately realizable. , I think it will be encouraging if the helpers who are doing their best at the front line say, "I'm doing my best."