Batch. What recognition for caregivers? Question with no real answer…

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Tuesday October 8, 2024, for the first edition of the caregivers day organized in the Lot, Labastide-Murat250 caregivers responded! Proof that it is time to open Pandora's box… Objective: to exchange and communicate on existing systems, solutions and services, both at national and departmental level.

If the day began with the intervention of actors offering short skits depicting the lives of caregivers, they were quickly given the floor through questions and answers between caregivers and support professionals. In addition, a village bringing together the main Lotois players responding to the needs of caregivers was present throughout the day.

1 in 4 people are or will become caregivers

Among the interventions noted and praised by all the participants, we will remember the concise formula of Laurence Alidor, the departmental director of solidarity of Lot: “With 11 million caregivers in France, caregivers represent the largest aid society at home in our country. We could add that this company has the advantage of offering free labor which does not block roundabouts and never strikes.

In other words, if everyone recognizes the usefulness and wealth that caregivers represent, politicians seem to have difficulty tackling the subject. And yet, according to experts, 1 in 4 people are or will become caregivers! By 2050, it is estimated that one million people will be healthcare professionals for older people. These figures are in reality the reflection of a true anthropological revolution from which we can no longer retreat: like climate change, the population is aging. However, for two years it has been clear that the government has been at a standstill on the subject, making old age policy a real blind spot. The status of caregiver is still not recognized, caregivers must have more rights and financial assistance, especially when today twenty-five thousand positions in home help remain unfilled, due to of personnel.

Train more and urgently

Among the representatives of the Department, we welcome the presence of its president Serge Rigal. According to him, the whole issue lies in the recognition and promotion of the home help profession. We need more and urgent training to respond to aging and therefore the growing needs of the population. He mentions in particular a recurring problem encountered to date, namely the fact that “home help is neither a cleaning lady nor a nurse”. Through this laconic formula we easily understand the difficulty for caregivers to find those who can respond to needs on the ground.

Today, the rights of caregivers are actually limited to two: “the right to respite” and “caregiver leave”. Beyond the fact that it is largely insufficient, between what exists and reality, there are months of waiting, a real administrative labyrinth and caregivers who are exhausted. If the sinews of war are undeniably financial, we can question these non-choices of French public policies which reveal a short-term vision, because the caregivers of today are the sick of tomorrow! It is said that one in 3 caregivers will leave before their loved one, but what state will those who stay in be in? Treating them will also have a cost! Let us hope that this first day of “visibility” of caregivers in our department is only the first small step towards new resolutions adapted to the evolution of our society.

Useful link: https://maboussoleaidants.frRead: Guide for caregivers, Hélène Rossinot

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