Care Giving - A Stressful but Well-paying Job
Care Givers Earn Well but Suffer from Work-related Anxieties
Care giving in the US may be a well-paying job in many cities, but the psychological cost for caring for the needy is so much higher than what caregivers are compensated for.
In California, a caregiver is earning at least $10 per hour, compared to workers in fast foods and grocery stores. But the emotional cost of caring for the sick has proven to be tedious and stressful for caregivers.
“I hold a very high responsibility in taking care of my sick client. I take care of her life. I make sure that she is safe and well-fed and given the proper medication. I appreciate my high pay, of course, but it costs me sleepless nights and anxiety too,” said Norma Ramos (real name withheld) in an interview with Suite101.
Ramos has been working as caregiver for the past four years to an elderly woman in San Ramon and receives $150 in a day’s work. She, however, has to get up late nights and at dawn to check on her client or assist her when she needs to go to the bathroom.
A study made by the Family Caregiver Alliance in 2000, a non-government organization based in San Francisco, California, said that informal care giving costs $257 billion annually; if compensated professionally. It exceeds the costs associated with home health care at $32 billion and nursing home care at $92 billion combined.
The psychological value of care-giving work, however, remains unquantifiable but visible only in the prolonged life span and well-being of the beneficiaries they are taking care of.
Joy Rubi (real name withheld) said she feels very happy that she is able to serve her mother who had been paralyzed due to massive stroke in 2002. “I decided to quit my job and be her caregiver because I wasn’t satisfied with how she was attended to in her nursing home.” She had to slide a full-time job as accountant into part-time in order to keep watch of her totally dependent mother, who has to be clothed, bathed, and fed.
Stressful but Fulfilling
According to the Family Caregiving Alliance, female caregivers are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety as a result of their care giving work.
“At times the work catches up on me. I feel so stressed and tired because I too have my own limitations and needs. And when you provide care, you likewise need a fair amount of care from your loved ones to be able to move on,” she said.
The Family Caregiving Alliance has noted that most women (usually aged 20 to 64 years old) care givers handle the most difficult care giving tasks (like bathing, toileting, and dressing) compared with their male counterparts who help in finances, errands, and driving.
They also seem to naturally provide care for more than the usually eight-hour work per day or 40 hours a week. A study of California Caregiver Resource Center indicates that the average number of hours of care per week is 81.
Care Giving Support
Government provides support services to caregivers who are often unaware of its availability. Only nine percent of Alzheimer’s caregivers used respite services in a recent study in California and only 11 percent participated in support groups.
It has been found that caregiver interventions benefit both the caregiver and the care recipient. According to the study, the use of care giver support services has shown to have clinically significant outcomes in improving depression, anxiety, and anger among caregivers.
According to Dr. Belen Sering, a psychiatrist in New York, it is important for caregivers to regularly take time out for relaxation because the very nature of care giving which provides physical and emotional support to the elderly and sick is emotionally draining.
As for Rubi and Ramos, taking a day-off means being able to do what they enjoy most, like shopping or attending a party with friends. “I feel the need to relax when I am out of the house of my client. I go out with friends and have a good laugh with them,” beams Rubi.
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