Home health aides have kept working through the COVID-19 pandemic. Their help is essential for people who need a hand with things like laundry, meals and housework. But the virus has changed the job.
“The first thing that happened was I lost some of my clients, because they’re older people. Older people are more susceptible, of course, to coming down with COVID. And they were afraid,” Lee (not her real name) told WMUK.
Lee is a home healthcare worker in the Kalamazoo area. We're not identifying her because she doesn’t have permission to talk about her job. She told WMUK about some of the ways the pandemic has altered her work.
Lee says while some clients want to avoid visitors, others are more eager than ever for assistance – and company.
“Especially if it’s a single person living alone, many times they don’t have a lot of person-to-person contact,” she said. “So to begin with they’re happy to see you, but with COVID they’re not leaving their house at all. Even people who are more able-bodied, they’re not leaving.”