95bFM Home support workers 'isolated and marginalised'
1 September, 2022
Interview by Emilia Sullivan, adapted by David Liwei Shi
AUT employment relations expert Katherine Ravenswood says the pandemic exacerbated the mental and physical toll on home support workers. Photo: Unsplash.
A report on the wellbeing of home support workers during Covid-19 is calling on Minister of Health Andrew Little to urgently address issues in the essential sector.
Research led by AUT employment relations expert Katherine Ravenswood, supported by union representatives from E tū and PSA, revealed that support workers are taking on extra workloads, attending to up to six clients daily, from children to the elderly.
Ravenswood told 95bFM's The Wire that the pandemic exacerbated the mental and physical toll on these workers due to insecure working conditions, financial stress, and poor communication from employers.
"Existing poor conditions were worsened because policies meant to support essential workers didn't really acknowledge the context of community support workers."
Ravenswood said support workers were not given enough information on how to protect themselves and their clients while working during the pandemic and had no clear way to communicate with their employers or the Ministry of Health, leaving them feeling "isolated and marginalised."
“Most people think all we do is make cups of tea and do housework. But I am showering my clients, changing dressings, things that require me to be very up close and personal,” one support worker says.
“Yet we had no masks, no gloves, or aprons. In those early days, I spent a lot of time crying in my car.”
E tū Director Kirsty McCully told The Wire that "decades of systemic undervaluation of the mostly-women workforce has had a profound effect on their individual and collective wellbeing."
The report recommends developing a well-resourced sector to sustainably deliver care and support services, reducing issues like isolation and financial insecurity, and recognising workers’ contributions and expertise.
"I think Minister Little needs to stop and listen to the workers' voices," Ravenswood said. "Listen to the ideas of resourcing the sector on a national basis so that it can provide the workers' community."
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
