Seniors caring for seniors are pandemic’s invisible victims

Those who are the backbone of our home-care system deserve more help, Tamara Sussman and Shari Brotman say.

Senior caregivers are among the essential frontline workers struggling on a daily basis to keep our health-care system afloat, while putting themselves at risk in the process. Yet they are left alone, invisible victims of this pandemic.

The crisis unfolding in long-term care homes across Quebec has exposed an ugly truth: our care system relies too heavily on the unpaid and unrecognized work of family caregivers — many of whom are seniors themselves.

In communities, family caregivers have silently provided almost 80 per cent of the hands-on care to seniors for decades. Senior caregivers, who are a high-risk group because of their age, provide more weekly care to other seniors in Canada on average than their younger counterparts. Some have even responded to the crisis in long-term care homes by helping their relatives return to the community. These caregivers are working tirelessly on the front lines of this pandemic without recognition or support.

As social workers, we have witnessed firsthand how this vulnerable group is quietly slipping through the cracks. Consider Mrs. S, a senior caregiver who has been looking after her husband with dementia at home for five years. Mrs. S made a request six months ago for some support from her public homecare agency. Although her need for this service has increased because of the cancellation of all day programs, she has been informed that her request will not be met in the foreseeable future. Mrs. S, a senior herself, is bathing, feeding, dressing, and monitoring her husband’s care alone, without a break, 24 hours a day. Yet no one is reaching out to offer her support or to help her think through what she would do if she suddenly found herself sick due to COVID-19.

Mrs. S is bathing, feeding, dressing, and monitoring her husband’s care alone, without a break.

As new cases continue to rise, so too does the incidence of first-time senior caregivers. This is the case for Mr. P, whose wife was informed by telephone that she tested positive for COVID-19 after a brief visit to the ER after feeling weakness and fatigue. Mrs. P was advised to stay apart from Mr. P, and to wear protective gear while interacting with her husband. Surprisingly, no one provided them with the necessary protective gear or followed up to see how they were coping in the following weeks. Mr. P found himself on the front lines of COVID-19, supporting his wife by cooking, cleaning, overseeing her medications, providing her with reassurance and helping her to move around their apartment in her weakened state. What’s more, no one has told them if and when Mrs. P. will be retested so that home care services, if offered, could be authorized in their home.

Both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault have said that it is our duty to protect seniors during this pandemic. This message rings hollow when federal and provincial policy initiatives introduced during the pandemic fail to address the needs and realities of caregivers, particularly those who are themselves seniors.

So where are the protections and financial compensations for our senior caregivers who are serving as the backbone of our homecare system? If we can deploy workers to long-term care facilities, why not also improve our capacity to provide hands-on care in the community with similar deployment plans, protective gear and training? And as we recognize the need to check in with families whose relatives are residing within the walls of long-term care homes, let us not forget seniors’ caregivers in the community who would benefit from professional outreach, financial support, equipment and strategies to help them endure this difficult and isolating time.