Home care for the elderly is as important and time
\nconsuming as childcare. Picking the right person for the job is crucial. Also
\ncrucial are the conditions offered to the people providing the home care. This
\nis a profession in itself and is defined as such by the International Labour Organisation’s Domestic Workers Convention no. 189. The
\nconvention offers protection and recognises the right to decent work conditions
\nfor these workers. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We spoke to one such worker, Anisoara, with 18 years of
\nexperience in the area, in order to find out what her typical day is like.
\nRight now she cares for three elderly people she spends a few hours with every
\nday. Here is what she told us: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I help them take their medication, I do their
\nshopping, I take them to the doctor, I wash them, I cook and I clean for them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In spite of Convention 189, Anisoara’s
\nprofession is not recognised by all European states, and reality does not
\nalways match regulation. She explained what that means: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I worked for a company that had a contract
\nwith the sector city hall. I was working there legally, but city hall ran out
\nof funds to pay for domestic workers at this company. I lost my job and now I
\nwork in private, as it were. The elderly people who could not afford a
\ncaretaker of their own were left without any help whatsoever.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This situation shows the vulnerability of both
\ndomestic workers and the people who need home care. Those of them whose family
\ncannot afford a caretaker are left with no help, unless the local authorities
\npay a company to provide a domestic worker. The latter are sometimes forced to
\nwork under the counter, with none of the rights provided by legal employment.
\nHere is Anisoara once again: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I don’t have a job contract, and I cannot
\nafford social and medical insurance. I haven’t been to the doctor in years,
\neven though I have high blood pressure and other problems as well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Habilitas Humanitarian Association trains
\ndomestic workers. Its vice-president, Rodica Caciula, gave us a few details
\nabout the legal or less than legal situation of these caretakers: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Domestic workers are listed in the Code of
\nOccupations in Romania and are denominated as ‘home caretakers for the
\nelderly’. It also defines the highest level of qualification for this
\noccupation, which is gained by doing 360 hours of training, 240 hours of
\npractice, and 120 hours of theoretical training. However, there are a lot of
\npeople who have no training, who get hired privately rather than a company or
\nby the state or local authorities. We don’t know for sure how many of them are
\nlegally employed – it seems few of them are documented workers – many of them
\nwork on the so-called grey area of the labour market.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One solution for providing protection for domestic
\nworkers and the people they take care of is ratifying Convention 189. This is
\nthe advice of the European Economic and Social Committee, which recently issued
\na request to EU member states to ratify this convention. Dumitru Fornea, a
\nmember of this Committee, told us about the advantages of issuing stricter
\nlegislation to regulate home care: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This is a very important convention. So far
\nvery few states have ratified it – Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Finland
\nand Switzerland – others will gradually join as well, since this is a condition
\nfor continuing any serious discussion in terms of legalising this occupation
\nand restoring dignity to these people. This sector seems marginal. But, if we
\nlook at the aging of the population and the need for medical assistance, the
\nimportance of this sector is growing. However, all these are considered to be
\nmarginal aspects of social regulations. Now we are trying to restore dignity to
\nthe workers in this sector.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In addition, stricter legislation and enforcement
\nalso protects the elderly. Here is Rodica Caciula: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It is important for a domestic worker to be
\nhired either by a company or by the local authorities because the elderly run
\nthe risk of being abused by a caretaker. If there is no paperwork, there can be
\nno investigation by the authorities, either social workers or labour
\ninspectors, therefore we cannot know what happens in the home of the elderly
\nperson and their caretaker. There is also the possibility for the worker to be
\nexhausted, with no replacement to take over, no vacation, with no regulation
\napplying to their work. There are lots of cases of single, defenceless elderly
\npeople being abused in their home by domestic workers. This is why it is
\nimportant for this convention to be ratified. If all these domestic workers had contract-based work, they would become a major segment of the labour
\nforce in Romania.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Until better legislation and regulation comes
\ninto effect, Anisoara and the people in her situation, as well as the people
\nthey care for, often as disadvantaged as the caretakers, continue to make do as
\nbest they can. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Home care for the elderly is as important and time consuming as childcare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":142175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43589,19347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-142174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-home-care","tag-romania"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n