"Many elderly clients literally do not know who is coming that day (to care for them) because the turnover is so fast," she said. "This is clearly not a good way to provide care to anyone, and especially not the elderly."
The conference yesterday at Graduate Hospital was organized by Philadelphia's Coalition of Advocates for the Rights of the Infirm Elderly, (CARIE) a 13-year-old organization.
Finding workers to care for the infirm elderly is one of the most pressing problems now facing thousands of families, said CARIE executive director Bernice Soffer. Operators of nursing homes, home health services and personal care boarding homes all echo the complaint, she said.
Today's already difficult employment situation is certain to deteriorate further, the speakers said. The number of frail elderly is projected to rise dramatically during the next decade, while the labor pool of low-skilled or semiskilled workers is expected to shrink as the "baby bust" generation enters the work force.
Adding to the pressure, they said, is competition from fast-food restaurants, banks and other service businesses where pay is comparable but the work is less demanding.
For pay that rarely rises much above minimum wage, elder-care workers are asked to do everything from bathing elderly people and cleaning their bedpans to changing bandages and making sure clients take medication.
"The whole industry is based on the existence of an underclass - victimized people who have nowhere else to go and will do difficult work for low wages," said keynote speaker Terrie Wetle, director of research for the Braceland Center for Mental Health and Aging in Hartford, Conn.
