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Elder Care Concerns from Northwestern News on Vimeo.
Struggling to Follow Doctor's Orders…Paid
Caregivers may lack the skills to take on
health-related tasks in Senior’s homes
By Erin White
Video produced by Erin White
February 24, 2011-- Paid caregivers make it
possible for seniors to remain living in
their homes. The problem, according to a new
Northwestern Medicine study, is that more
than one-third of caregivers had difficulty
reading and understanding health-related
information and directions. Sixty percent
made errors when sorting medications into
pillboxes.
The study will be published in the Journal
of General Internal Medicine. It has been
published
online.
In a first-of-its-kind study, nearly 100
paid, non-family caregivers were recruited
in the Chicago area and their health
literacy levels and the health-related
responsibilities were assessed, said Lee
Lindquist, M.D., assistant professor of
geriatrics at
Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine and physician at
Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“We found that nearly 86 percent of the
caregivers perform health-related tasks,”
said Lindquist, lead author of the study.
“Most of the caregivers are women, about 50
years old. Many are foreign born or have a
limited education. The jobs typically pay
just under $9.00 per hour, but nearly
one-third of the caregivers earn less than
minimum wage.”
Lindquist found that despite pay, country of
birth or education level, 60 percent of all
the caregivers made errors when doling
medication into a pillbox.
This is an alarming statistic, because
patients who don’t take certain medications
as prescribed could end up in the hospital,
Lindquist said.
“Many of these caregivers are good people
who don’t want to disappoint and don’t want
to lose their jobs,” Lindquist said.
“So they take on health-related
responsibilities, such as giving out
medications and accompanying clients to the
doctor for appointments.
“Most physicians and family members do not
realize that while the caregiver is nodding
and saying ‘yes’, she might not really
understand what is being said.”
Right now there isn’t a standard test family
members or employment agencies can use to
gauge a caregiver’s ability to understand
and follow health-related information,
Lindquist said.
“Currently we are developing tests consumers
can use to evaluate caregiver skills as well
as studying the screening processes
caregiver agencies use,” Lindquist said.
“But, if you really want to know if the
caregiver is doing a good job and is taking
care of the health needs of your senior,
start by going into the home, observing them
doing the tasks, and asking more questions.”
The title of the study is “Inadequate Health
Literacy Among Paid Caregivers of Seniors.”
The Barney Family Foundation funded this
study.
