events

Keywords:

International Students; Personal Support Workers; Long term care: COVID-19; Labour geography

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and accentuated an ongoing crisis of care in Long Term Care Facilities (LTC). A historic lack of investment in care, especially in areas of elder care, has resulted in LTC facilities being the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in Canada. Many workers in LTC in Canada and across the OECD are migrants. They face poor employment conditions, low paying work, and often lack sufficient training, all of which endanger the lives of care workers and the vulnerable elders they care for. The majority of workers in Ontario’s LTC sector are personal support workers (PSWs). These are unregulated health workers without a clear scope of practice who collaborate with health professions. The education and training of PSWs are not standardized, and this has created concern over practice norms, standards of care, and how workers progress. International students in health care programs in Waterloo Region have taken up employment as PSWs in the LTC sector in the Waterloo Region. This presentation discusses results from a survey of PSWs, their immigrant status and their experiences during the pandemic.

Saturday, 18 December · 7:30 – 8:30 pm
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