This sounds great like it always does--but who is going to pay for the wage
they deserve? I certainly cannot afford it. Should I win the Lottery, then
yes, I could pay as much as was needed to get the best people. I could
build a few home-like apartment group homes and screen the tenants well.
But that takes money. The PCA program I am on pays more than the agencies
do, but still cannot fill my positions right now--not even to cook supper
mon.--fri. I have 2 attendants, one is leaving for a week on a vacation
then will start school and will not be working the weekends or nights
anymore. The other gal puts me to bed and works for 2 agencies during the
day.
Part of the problem is the amount of hours--like you said, its not enough to
make it feasible and people are getting stingy with gas prices, so driving
here for 1 hour then coming back 3 hours later for another 1 hour, is just
not worth it.
Dana
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Aaron Mann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Quad" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 3:15 PM
Subject: RE: [QUAD-L] Aides again
I've been pulling together information on what might be involved in
creating a Personal Care Attendant (PCA) business funded by private
sponsors / Medicaid / Medicare / Insurance. I want to create a business
that is founded and run by the people that actually use the services. I
believe that, combined, we have enough successful approaches to finding
the right people. In my experiences the road blocks are in the
inexperienced Home Health Agency or other "fill in the blank" programs
created by often times non-disabled individuals. They don't recruit
properly, don't train properly, and remove too much control from the
patient.
My approach has been entirely outside of any agency or other
organization. I find people through advertisements in papers, local
colleges and at local medical centers. I pay what I think is fair for
this type of work and detail out every aspect of what my expectations
are. My biggest problem is that I cannot provide a full-time job for
these people. I've run across some great people who, if they could get
more hours, would take this on as a profession.
In my ideal company I'd keep it privatized. This way each "client"
could have their own customized care program. Attendants would get paid
the rates they deserve. Ultimately this would get us the quality care
we deserve.
_____
From: Lori Michaelson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 2:56 PM
To: Quad
Subject: [QUAD-L] Aides again
DANA WROTE:
"People keep telling me I should write a book too. We should flood the
market with therxse books and name names to show how we are "really"
treated! There should be a chapter on good aides too, or something so
that
they do not go un-noticed. Maybe a 2 set book--The Bad, and The Good!
Dana
[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
Just yesterday my husband mentioned I should write a book on all this
too. But I am so exhausted on the subject... thinking of writing it all
feels like me climbing Mt Everest as a quad! *sigh*
I just wrote a heavy heated letter to the corporate office of my home
health agency. They should have it today so we'll see what type of shit
hits the fan or whether it was done in vain.
Lori
