Louise one of the carers on our Home Care Direct platform was on Ireland AM last week, giving the view from the frontline on why there is a shortage of carers but also offering a practical solution.
Louise is a great example of how capable many carers are but how their passion for caring and contributing to their communities, is being destroyed by the poor employment conditions offered by corporate home care providers.
So many care situations don't need a full agency type service, so why can't families use the funds it would have cost the HSE, to contract directly with local carers? Surely that's better than leaving them on growing waiting lists?
If we want more carers like Louise, and we are convinced there is an army of mini entrepreneurs like Louise out there waiting to be activated, we need to move away from our present one size fits all system and give carer's like Louise other options in how they work and contribute to their communities and in doing so, give families who are waiting on care more choice and control over what their care looks like.
https://www.virginmediatelevision.ie/player/show/809/196632/0/