TOPEKA — Kansas care providers and advocates are working to find solutions addressing workforce issues exacerbated by the pandemic, further complicating access to services for elderly patients.
The Kansas Senior Care Task Force heard Friday from representatives of health care organizations and providers on the issue faced in the senior care arena and where solutions may be found. Primary issues discussed were social isolation, chronic disease management and direct care workforce shortages.
Nanette Perrin, of Sunflower Health Plan, said the direct care workforce issue has a notable impact on the services across home and community-based services. This need, exacerbated by the pandemic, leaves many of the 6,544 Sunflower long-term care members without easy access to necessary assistance.
“We have seen a few nursing facilities that have chosen to consolidate their locations or even some that have closed,” Perrin said. “Although wage increases are an important solution for recognizing the hard work that direct caregivers do and for competing with the pay of other local businesses, wage increases alone won’t resolve the issue.”
Among potential approaches to dealing with this workforce shortage and the social isolation aspect is telehealth and remote care for those with chronic conditions, Perrin said. While not a permanent fix, it allows them to provide some degree of care even when in-person visits are not possible.
Debra Blomquist, the owner of Accessible Home Care and Accessible Home Health, works to provide nurses and health care providers directly to elderly Kansans but she said finding and keeping these workers employed has become increasingly challenging. In some cases, a team member may need to drive an hour between patients with little to no reimbursement for gas or other expenditures.
“All the extra government money really made it where people could make more money staying home than they could working for us or in an attendant care capacity,” Blomquist said. “That’s beginning to improve. Hirings finally picked up to the highest it’s been in the last two years, so we’re hopeful that will continue.”
The challenging nature of the job, combined with wages most cannot afford to live on, also has left independent living services and hospitals struggling to find nurses and aides.
Anette Graham, of the Kansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging and Disabilities, recommended putting more funds into the Money Follows the Person Program to assist with the social isolation experienced. The program can help people relocate back into the community and has thus far helped 46 individuals move.
“We’ve also worked with assistive technology of Kansas to utilize technology to help that individual,” Graham said. “We know that this can be done very effectively and very cost effectively, to get those people back to the community for people that choose to return back.”
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February 26, 2022 at 10:03PM
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Long-term care providers say comprehensive solutions needed for workforce issues in Kansas - Kansas Reflector
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