Staff shortage impacts senior care in Green Valley

GREEN VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Home health care providers across the country are grappling with severe staffing shortages, and the Green Valley area is no exception.

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, more than 25% of referred patients were turned away due to a lack of available workers.

Embrace In-Home Care, a non-medical home care provider in Green Valley, has been deeply affected by these shortages. Founder Clarissa Alvarez, who started the company after a personal health scare, said she was inspired by her own need for care during a difficult time.

“I came from a place where I got really sick and needed a lot of help, which was a very uncomfortable experience,” Alvarez says. “That’s when I started this journey, to make the experience better for others.”

Her goal has always been to provide dignity and comfort to her clients, but the pandemic has made that mission increasingly difficult with fewer staff. Embrace and other local care providers have seen a sharp drop in the number of available workers, leaving seniors more vulnerable.

This situation required collaboration between home care companies in the Green Valley area.

“We saw a real shortage of staff,” Alvarez said. “We connected with all our competitors, helped each other out and did what we could.”

Although Embrace and others have weathered the pandemic, many of those people have not returned to the field.

She says many left because they needed an emotional or mental break from the stress of the pandemic.

The effects of this crisis are hitting the elderly community particularly hard, as it exacerbates an already growing problem: social isolation.

“Isolation is terrible for cognitive impairment,” Alvarez noted, noting the long-term consequences for older adults. “There was a lot of isolation during the pandemic, and many older adults are still experiencing the effects of that.”

Chris Erickson, executive director of Valley Assistance Services (VAS), also highlighted the serious health risks associated with social isolation.

“If you take the effects of smoking and you smoke about a pack and a half a day,” Erickson said. “We’re connecting that to the effects of isolation, social isolation, on a person’s health.”

VAS works to mitigate these effects through home visits and transportation services for seniors, providing essential socialization and support.

The organization offers services such as a diaper bank and assistance to seniors who need help with rent and utilities.

Christie Fernandez, adult resource advocate at VAS, says seniors face many barriers to developing a social life as they age.

“They have outlived much of their family and friends and are no longer as close to their neighbors,” Fernandez said. “They also have no means of transportation, which prevents them from attending social activities and church.”

To combat this problem, the organization provides transportation for medical appointments, errands and social events, traveling from Tucson to Rio Rico.

VAS’s Gloria Espinoza also oversees various programs aimed at reducing isolation.

“We have social groups, support services and grief support groups, and our clients really enjoy coming to them,” Espinoza said. “They can express what they’re feeling.”

Friends In Deed, another Green Valley nonprofit, offers social groups to provide a sense of friendship and purpose.

Other organizations providing assistance to seniors in Green Valley include:

Along with the need for direct care staff, VAS and other Green Valley nonprofits are looking for volunteers to help continue their mission throughout Green Valley.
Those interested in volunteering for VAS can visit its website.