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SUPPORTING AND ENHANCING INDEPENDENCE

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PASC Registry

 

PASC Registry

 “Respect: A Critical Ingredient for a Successful Homecare Experience”
The PASC Homecare Registry is arguably the largest In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provider referral service in California. Registry staff members respond to hundreds of service request calls and inquiries on a daily basis. The majority of the calls and inquiries are initiated by Registry  users – consumers and providers – who fully understand the IHSS program, their rights and responsibilities under the program, the Independent Provider mode, and the scope of our Registry services. And, these individuals have a very good relationship with the Registry and their providers and consumers.
However, there is a very small group of individuals – consumers and providers alike, who always seem to have difficulties finding and retaining their employees and/or employment, and frequently file complaints against one another. What is interesting about these complaints is that many of them seem to share a common underlying source: They seem to stem from a weak sense of mutual respect between consumers and providers during the course of their brief or extended interaction.
For example, when a consumer complains to the Registry that his or her provider “comes to work at any time,” “never asks permission to be absent,” “is always in a bad mood,” “treats him or her like a child,” or is “verbally abusive;” these are very clear illustrations of the provider’s lack of respect for the consumer as a person and for his/her authority as an employer. By the same token, when a provider complains to the Registry that his or her consumer “screams and yells all the time,” “talks down to him or her,” and/or “uses curse words when asking for a task to be done;” these instances also illustrate a lack of respect for the provider as a worker and as a fellow human being.
We submit that some consumers and providers who have experienced the situations depicted above could have a better homecare experience if they would treat each other in a more respectful manner. Following are ten simple ways in which providers and consumers can show respect for each other, and, in so doing, have a more pleasant and successful homecare experience.
  1.  Providers should ask their consumers how they would like to be addressed, by first or last name; consumers should not use epithets such as “girl” and “servant” when addressing or talking about providers.
  2. Providers should arrive to work at agreed upon time; consumers should notify the providers when they, the consumers, are not going to be home to receive services.
  3. Providers should give their consumers sufficient advance notice when they have to be absent from work or when they have to end an employment relationship. When practicable, consumers should do the same.
  4. Providers should respect their consumers’ property, including valuables, telephone, food supply, household appliances; consumers should not ask providers to use their own money to pay their bills or to make purchases on consumers’ behalf.
  5.  Providers should respect their consumers’ right to privacy, including the consumers personal affairs, household practices, and medical conditions; consumers should not require providers to disclose private information such as their age, marital status, nationality, and/or sexual orientation.
  6. Providers should not tell the consumers how they, the providers, carry out tasks in their own homes and/or at other consumers’ homes; consumers should give providers clear instructions as to what their needs and preferences are within the scope of the IHSS program.
  7. Providers should inform their consumers promptly if there is something wrong with the employer-employee relationship ( i.e., disagreement over duties, schedule, treatement, conduct, etc.); consumers should be willing to listen to providers’ issues, and try to find solutions. There will be occasions in which ending an employment relationship is actually the right solution.
  8. Providers and consumers should be tactful when discussing matters related to race, religion, and politics. Also, they should shy away from conversations and statements that stereotype and/or denigrate certain ethnic and/or cultural groups.
  9. Both the providers and consumers should refrain from using language and terminologies that are inherently demeaning and/or offensive. Words such as “handicapped,” “invalid,” “insane,” “stupid,” “dumb,” “illiterate,” and the like should not be used at all.
  10. Providers and consumers should remember to appreciate the immense value of the IHSS program and the difference it has made in the lives of hundreds and thousands of consumers and providers over the last 45 plus years.

We, at PASC Homecare Registry invite and encourage those IHSS consumers and providers who have had long lasting relationships to contact the Registry and to give us their opinion as to what has made their relationship last. We will select some of the comments and print them in our next issue of the PASC homecare bulletin. Comments can be forwarded to : Info@PASCLA.ORG.

 

If you would like more information or are currently having an issue with your consumer or provider, PASC offers IHSS tips classes taught by our Outreach specialists who are experienced IHSS recipients. Please call PASC’s training hotline at 626-737-7508 to request more information about the IHSS Tips classes or to speak with an Outreach specialist.
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