National Home Support Worker Week Oct. 20-27 IMAGINE YOU'RE a single mother of three, temporarily housebound with illness, or perhaps you’re a 24-hour caregiver for your husband with Alzheimer’s disease. Maybe you can manage living alone, but don’t bother cooking hot meals for yourself since your husband died. Situations like these happen every day on the North Shore. Relief for these people — whether they’re elderly ‘‘shut-ins,’’ caregivers er people temporarily set back by iHness — comes from North Shore home support workers. - That's why Oct. 20 to 27 has been named National Home Sup- port Worker Week — to recognize a profession that remains invisible to the majority of people out is an integral part of the community all the same. According to Barbara Kroon, executive director of the non- profit North Shore Home Support Services Society (NSHSSS), her field staff is providing this type of care to 2,000 people on the North Shore, 95% of whom are seniors and most over 80 years old. “The thinking is that if we can provide support when they're managing at home, then they’l! stay maneging at home and hope- fully won’t have tc go to the hos- pital as much or into Jong-term care.”” Kroon says that seniors tend to do better if they can stay at home comfortably rather than stay in the hospital or jong-term care fa- : cility where they tend to lose their independence. “Their normal daily activities — just getting up and putting on the kettle for tea — are assumed - by the hospital,’’ Kroon says. Lions Gate Hospital and North Shore Health are also enabling By Elizabeth Collings News Reporter people to stay at home longer or leave hospital earlier. The quick response program mobilizes home support services for people who would otherwise be admitted to hospital. Looking into the future, Kroon expects the demand for home support workers.to grow as the impact of an aging population is coupled with the trend towards keeping seniors as independent as possible 1s long as possible. ‘*The whole country has awakentd to the reality of dealing with an aging population,” she says. NSHSSS employs 240 home support workers, 32 respite werkers (employees who give telief to caregivers, usually family members), and 16 aurses. Kroon says that over the past 10 years, the type of people who choose to be home support workers has evolved from women who want to care for others after their kids have grown up, to women, and occasionally men, who are looking for a full-time, rewarding job. By Kroon’s own admission, the pay ‘‘could be higher’? and the job can be quite demanding, both physically and emotionally. But the job can also be satis- Sunday, October 27, 1991 a NEWS photo Goodman ART WARDZLE (seated) is tho first North Shore resident to get the Tunstall emergency telephone unit offered by North Shore Home Support Services Society. Standing (left to right) is society pro- gram ccordinator Hilary King, Careline Tapp-McDougall, director of marketing for Tunstali Canada, and John Stradling, managing director of the Tunstall Group. See page 38 fer details on system. fying on a more personal level than some office jobs, she says. Workers often build friendships with the clients and sometimes, as an outsider. .an have more influ- ence over ‘iieir client than even the family. While the turnover rate of homemakers may be high in the first six months after hiring, once over that hump, the employees tend to stay for a long time, says TANKER TR BURRARD Tankers containing a variety of liquid bulk shipments including refined and crude petroleum move their cargoes ’ through the inner harbour as they deliver these products for export and more frequently, domestic consumption. The Port of Vancouver commissioned a study to examine the risks of this ranker traffic which is now complete and ready ¢PRESENTATIONS for public review. * We look forward to your verbal or Wednesday Oct. 23 kyle Centre 125 Kide Place Port Moody Thursday Oct. 24 Operating Engineers Hall 4333 ledger Avenue Burnaby SENT For more information call 666-2383 Kroon.° “But we do have difficulty at- tracting staff. The challenge is go- ing to be finding enough staff to meet the future demand for ser- vices.” OPEN HOUSES 7PM - 9PM | eDISPLAYS @ INFORMATION THE a written input Tuesday Oct. 29 Britannia Aigh School Staff Room 7007 Cotton Av- Yancous -.. Wednesday Oct. 30 North Shore Winter Club 1325 East Keith Road North Vancouver - North Shore News - 37 ~