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San Diego –
With the number of San Diegans over 65 projected to double by 2030, officials plan to recruit and train more caregivers.
The board unanimously voted Tuesday to develop employee recruitment and retention plans for its In-Home Supportive Services program, which serves seniors and people with disabilities.
“San Diego has always been a hospitable place for seniors,” said supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer in a letter to the board of directors. “If San Diego is to be a truly age-friendly community, we must prepare to meet the needs of the elderly and people with disabilities, focusing on diseases that affect memory and cognition.”
The board also directed the district administrators to maximize state matching funds for these services and to collect data on care in San Diego County.
Managers asked the county health workers to work with worker and community organizations to develop elderly care training plans and to consider wages, benefits and health care for home health workers. And it agreed to consider expanding its relief program to include those caring for an elderly or disabled family member.
In the past decade, the use of home health services has doubled and is expected to continue to increase, Lawson-Remer said in the letter. San Diego is now home to half a million people over 65. That number is projected to reach 1 million by 2030, in line with state trends showing the aging of the population will double in that time.
Home care workers provide services including household chores, medication management, and help with bathing and dressing. This can enable people to live at home in old age, she said.
“As we get older, our bodies don’t always hold up,” said Lawson-Remer. “But that doesn’t always mean someone should move into home care. Nurses enable seniors to stay at home and not have to move to an institution. “
The high turnover rate in home nursing means there are not enough workers available to meet San Diego’s needs, she said.
Supervisor Jim Desmond voted to approve the measure but said he wanted the county to apply for government funding to cover its costs.
“This is a really important program to provide for people who really need them to keep them out of nursing homes,” he said. “But this is a government program that we are implementing. I think the state has to increase and finance the costs of the program. “
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