Born just a year apart, Oliver Massengale and his brother Charles grew up together. Now, in a two-story home in Compton, California, they are growing old together. But Charles Massengale, 71, can do little on his own.
The former tree trimmer has severe brain damage from a 30-foot fall, as well as dementia, diabetes and high blood pressure. Six years ago, Oliver took over as his brother’s full-time caregiver, paid about $10 an hour by the state.
It was not a job he was trained to do.
“I didn’t have a clue,” said Oliver, a retired grounds manager at a college. “I was just so afraid of what I was doing.”
He constantly worried – about giving Charles the wrong medication, about him getting bedsores, about his blood pressure. And he had no idea how easily his brother could fall over. One day, he was cooking and Charles was on a stool at the kitchen counter.
“I heard BAM,” he said. “I turned around and he was on the kitchen floor.”
No overall training is required for the more than 400,000 caregivers in California’s $7.3 billion In-Home Supportive Services Program (IHSS) for low-income elderly and disabled residents. Without instruction even in CPR or first aid, these caregivers can quickly become overwhelmed and their sick or disabled clients can get hurt, according to interviews with caregivers, advocates and elder abuse experts.
The lack of training is “of enormous concern,” said Gary Passmore, a vice president of the Congress of California Seniors, an advocacy organization. “We are dealing with a lot of frail, elderly people.”
The need for in-home caregivers is rising as the elderly and disabled population grows. The demand for personal aides – most of whom work in the home — is expected to increase by 37% over the next decade, requiring about 1.3 million new positions, according to research published last year by the New-York based Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, an advocacy group that also provides training.
