Many call it a thankless job and there's a shortage of people willing to do it.
Officials who conducted a recent survey of personal support workers in the Sudbury area say the results should be a warning bell.
The survey suggests the PSWs are in ‘crisis mode’ and many are ready to quit the industry.
Workforce Planning Sudbury-Manitoulin conducted the anonymous survey.
It says 80% of PSWs in the area responded, saying they feel underpaid, overworked, and undervalued.
Reggie Caverson is the executive director of the local not-for-profit organization that provides labour market information on industry and workforce trends from both a supply and demand perspective.
“We are an aging population and I think we are certainly headed or in a crisis situation, and we have been for a while and we have not paid attention to it.” said Caverson.
The Ontario Healthcare Coalition chapter in Sudbury says it's lobbying the provincial government for at least four hours a day of ‘hands-on’ care for clients and better working conditions for PSWs.
“The workplace, because of the diagnosis of various residents such as dementia, there is violence. The PSWs need to feel that this is a safe place to work, and the residents have to feel that it's safe, and so do the families.” said Dot Klein of Ontario Healthcare Coalition Sudbury.
The survey also shows PSWs work long and precarious hours, 75% receive $20 an hour or less, 57% have no benefits, and many feel they are often not considered part of the healthcare team.
“They are often times rushed through the work that they are doing. So, they are moved along quite quickly and they said that if they don't have supportive teams behind them to understand, it's very difficult because they are very challenged to even care for the person they are caring for.” said Caverson.
He also says addressing exhaustive workloads, high client to staff ratios, and low compensation is critical.
She says just over 50% of PSWs surveyed say they plan to leave the profession in the next five years.
