The Direct Care News 
For direct care workers and their allies October 9, 2012
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Article Spotlights Home Care Workers' Fight for Respect
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 | | Latasha Smith |
DCA Board Chair and home care worker Tracy Dudzinski and Latasha Smith, a Houston home care worker who attended DCA's Houston Voices Institute, are the two experts quoted in a feature story about poor wages and benefits for home care workers and how workers are fighting to improve them.
In Home Health-Care Workers Still Fighting for Higher Wages, Better Benefits, both women tell author Michael Lawson about the personal sacrifices they and their families are making due to their low salaries-and about why they love their profession. "I don't get paid nearly enough, but it's a job that is necessary," says Smith. Read more and link to the article.
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Direct from Washington, DC
|  November elections to have significant impact on health care for direct care workers: President Obama and Governor Romney endorse very different health care plans, so this year's Presidential election will significantly affect hundreds of thousands of direct care workers and millions of other Americans who are currently uninsured. President Obama is committed to upholding the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), which makes health insurance affordable for low and middle-income families; offers free preventive care (e.g., mammograms and wellness visits for seniors); covers individuals whether they get sick or have pre-existing conditions; allows children up to age 26 to be covered on their parents' employer-provided insurance plans; and provides rebate checks to individuals whose insurance company spent too much of their premiums on CEO bonuses or administrative costs instead of medical care. Learn more about the ACA and direct care workers and the differences between President Obama and Governor Romney's health care plans.
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A Volunteer Caregiver's Growing Respect for His Professional Peers
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 | | Brad Nelson |
I work for a large bank as an information technology project manager. I also volunteer as a caregiver, a role that has given me a new understanding and appreciation of the broad range of skills and abilities required by professional caregivers in their day-to-day jobs.
My introduction to caregiving started about ten years ago when my mother, who has since passed away, was diagnosed with mild to moderate dementia (it was later identified as Alzheimer's). Fortunately, my younger brother lived with her at the time, so he became her caregiver. By the end he was providing total care, including feeding her and carrying her to bed. Like so many in that position, he had no training and no idea of where to turn for help.
I now know that during that time, my brother was likely experiencing that terrible feeling of isolation that almost everyone gets when they become a family caregiver. Read more from Brad Nelson.
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