how can we see invisible care? dr. tamara daly, cihr research chair in gender, work & health...
TRANSCRIPT
HOW CAN WE SEE INVISIBLE CARE?
Dr. Tamara Daly,CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work &
HealthAssociate Professor,
School of Health Policy & ManagementYork University, Toronto
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How do we see invisible care?
• Invisible care work is provided by students, relatives and friends, privately paid companions, volunteers, and finally by paid care workers who fill gaps in the care needs.
• We need more staff to provide good quality care
• How do we see invisible care in the literature, policy and practice spaces?
• How do we see the tensions and promise of a reliance on invisible care?
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How do we see invisible care?
• Literature: care work studies of facility care focus on paid work
• Policy: with exceptions, invisible care work is unregulated, undocumented and not counted in comparison with paid work
• Praxis: although facilities rely on this invisible care, it is not recognized for its importance as an overarching work organization model
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Teaching Model
• Promise: youth and others looking for new work are exposed to and possibly attracted to work in LTC
• Tensions: extra "hands" available to provide care is unlike the reality of work in LTC
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Familial Model
• Promise: strong family councils
• Tensions: staff feelings of surveillance; family members' feelings of burnout and stress
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Paid Companions
• Promise: residents get one-on-one attention, can attend some additional activities and go outside more often
• Tensions: surveillance of staff; interruption of work flow
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Volunteer Model
• Promise: this model builds on community capacity; helpful where there are language and cultural specificities
• Tensions: attracting, retaining and rewarding volunteers is full- time work
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Staff "Volunteer" Model
• Promise: ??
• Tensions: staff burnout and absenteeism
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Concluding Thoughts
• The informal and often unpaid work performed by students, volunteers, relatives, paid companions and staff exists in different configurations in different homes irrespective of country.
• By spending time in facilities it is increasingly clear that the invisible labour is essential to under-staffed facilities
• Homes adopt one main form of invisible labour to supplement their paid care work organization.
• Without higher staffing ... critical to care9
References
• Art from Gustav Vigeland, Erica McGilchrist, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert
• Research supported by the Canadian Institute for Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
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