Caregivers Needed as Boomers Grow Old

“The smaller family sizes are creating the high demand for CNA Certified caregivers,” Jenny Griffis, owner of Northwest NAC Training said. “Maybe they are already being taken care of by a single mom who is taking care of her own kids. Most caregivers are grown daughters, but more men are jumping in because they are the only children.”

If an only child tries to take care of a parent in addition to raising their own kids, the double duty can cause enormous amounts of stress.

“The caregivers usually burn out before the patient is done needing them,” Griffis said. “Especially with dementia, it’s a 24-7 job. A lot of times, family caregivers don’t ask for help until it’s too late.”

This means the need for someone outside of the family to handle the long term planning for a high-risk parent will increase. Even there, the number of caregivers available is dwindling.

“What I’m finding, a lot of larger facilities are short on caregiving staff,” Griffis said. “Not only do they need people that are already trained, they also need people to train family members. Or people move up the health care or medical fields and the caregivers are not being replenished fast enough.”

When should a more intense caregiver situation be considered? While dementia isn’t always readily apparent, there are things to look for in an aging parent.

“Mold on food in the refrigerator, leaving food in the microwave because they forgot they were making something,” Griffis said. “Their weight could be dropping, you’re finding pills on the floor, they’re leaving mail in their mailbox, newspapers piling up. These are some of the things that clue you in to the fact they might need a caregiver.”

What is Caregiving?

There are any number of things that can go into caregiving. At one end, caregivers can make sure a patient has a ride to and from a doctor appointment, help balance the checkbook, prepare meals, or just be there to talk. As conditions worsen for the patient, however, the job can get more involved.

“There’s more and more people needing care,” Griffis said. “Boomers are retiring, and the level of care is increasing. A caregivers job, the responsibilities, the scope of practice, is slowly evolving to taking on more complex care under the direction of a nurse.”

For many family members, those jobs become too personal.

“Parents may become unable to toilet themselves or may soil themselves,” Griffis said. “Now they have to clean up after Mom or Dad. Maybe you discover a wound on their foot or bottom, and it can get really bad when not addressed. They need professional care at that point.”

Northwest Nursing Assistant Certified Training prepares students for a career in the caregiving field. The training centers on the physiological as well as the emotional part of caregiving, being able to spot and care for wounds, moving patients safely from a bed or wheelchair, as well as day-to-day tasks.

“Most of your job as a caregiver is taking care of the physical needs,” Griffis said. “There are also mental and emotional aspects, because patients will talk about personal things while be assisted with tasks. But a lot of it is physical stuff. Daily care, brushing teeth, cleaning up messes, nutrition, etc.”

Just as Baby Boomers begin to reach their 80’s, the number of caregivers has begun to subside. Once the mainstay of in home caregiving, the family dynamic has changed in such a way that grown children just aren’t able to take care of the parents anymore. As the demand for health care services increases, there are many opportunities for certified nursing assistants, in both in home care as well as health care facilities.

Once the dominant force in shaping America, Baby Boomers have reached the age where they are in need of help of their own. The question is: will there be enough caregivers to provide it?

NW NAC Training offers 120 hours of instruction toward CNA Certification which will enable students to work in many other states throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.nwnactraining.com or call (360) 882-0101.