Parasites of the Elderly

This chapter begins by looking at how Alzheimer's disease and dementia add another level of vulnerability for both client and caregiver. It then considers the gender and income inequality in home care. For-profit home care agencies are parasites of the elderly, middlemen who do none of the hands-on care that is the real job but double the cost of care to the consumer and suck up the lion's share of the revenue that the care generates. The basic idea that caring for our elderly is something from which large profits can be made is odious and needs to change. One solution is to expand the aide's scope of practice. A more radical plan would be to cap or eliminate profits for home care agencies, particularly when public monies pay for the agencies to provide aides. The money saved would go a long way toward increasing home health aides' (HHAs) wages. Many HHAs working with Medicaid cases provide care every bit as good as or better than the care clients receive from private-pay aides.