Jennifer Ochs: Health care: Direct care worker shortage is a crisis
I am a wheelchair user who lives independently in the community. I have lived alone in my apartment in Boulder for over four years. I’m able to live independently because of home health. Five days a week I am visited by a direct care worker who cleans, does my laundry and helps me with various tasks that I cannot do by myself. My direct care worker doesn’t stay all day, they usually arrive around 9 a.m. and are gone by noon. Medicaid pays for my direct care workers under the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver.
Since living independently, I have thrived because I have learned to do things on my own. I am stronger mentally and physically and have learned the importance of self-advocacy.
Last summer, my direct care worker fell I’ll and I couldn’t get a replacement. I called several different…
