Should Elderly Caretakers Be REQUIRED To Speak English Or The Language Of The People They Are Working For?

Question

Not sounding stereotypical, but many of the home aides that I have seen are women usually Hispanic or from the Islands. All 3 of the aides that was assigned to my grandmother do not speak English well at all, 1 is from Puerto Rico and the other 2 are from Uganda.

Recently my grandmother fell in her apartment below us and had to be sent to the hospital the next morning. It was VERY hard getting the story from the aide working that day being that she speaks little to no English and very hard getting important, specific answers. I don't think we need to go through this communication gap in these emergencies.

You might be good at what you do but if you do not speak the language I speak how can we communicate in emergency cases or get to answer specific questions? This should not be the case. Do you agree?

Answer 1

When I trained as a nursing assistant communication was a key part of the job. I dont see how someone who does not speak the language can give proper care and totally agree with you.

Answer 2

There are Pro's and Con's to this question, but writing a as Gerontologist, here's what I think.

If necessary, the caregiver should be fluently bilingual. This person has to be able to converse with the client in a language that this person understands so that the communication can be effective. This is a must do. However, the caregiver must be fluent in the language of the country she/he is working in so that in times of emergency, this person will be able to communicate well with the first responders. This, too, is a must do.

Most countries in the world speak some form of English. Many, many are taught it as a second language in school.

But, the fact remains that the person doing the caregiving must be able to communicate in the language spoken, by both sides.

It appears from your question that you are using an Agency for In Home Healthcare. If that is the case, then this issue should be addressed with them immediately. They can and will send you Aides that speak the language. Make your wishes known to them, it's part of their job to make sure that you, the person that pays them, are satisfied with what you get
If they do not comply with your wishes, change agencies, it's that simple.

It is imperative that Seniors who must have In Home Healthcare be able to communicate with their caregivers. It may be a matter of life and death.

So, yes, I do agree.

Answer 3

I'm so sorry to hear of your Grandmother's recent mishap. Hope she is doing well.
I have to say that I totally agree with you, not trying to be hypocritical here, just sensible. It must've been a little horrid to have such a communication gap arise, especially when it involved the emergency situation that your grandmother was involved with.
There are a lot of caregivers that do have the capabilities of doing a great job, but it doesn't make sense to hire one that can't communicate efficiently enough. Caregivers have a role to play that requires being responsible to their client. Part of their responsibilities involves communication in a very BIG way. I think it's smarter to hire one that is capable of providing a good amount of strengths in communication so that something like this never happens....I mean, God forbid, what if there wasn't a family member around at the time your grandmother was in the emergency room....and the caregiver didn't have anyone to communicate with to release any information about your grandmother's current health issues. Emergency Rooms staff have to ask questions that makes it seem like having to go to a new Doctor. In ways on the New healthcare provider's part, they don't know enough about the patient in the first place and have to learn about them. For example, I have allergies to certain medications and if I had a caregiver at the hospital with me, and that caregiver can't describe that issue to the paramedics or emergency room staff, I could be in more danger than I already am in the first place. But all in all, it is important to "Train" that caregiver so similar scenarios turn out more positively than this one did. If your grandmother chose this caregiver and really likes that caretaker, let her keep the service. BUT, it is important to document any health issues for the caregiver to give to emergency workers in case they need it.
As far as the scene being described by the caregiver, that is something that will have its gray areas as in most any other accidental mishaps. People panic normally when these things happen and things can become a misunderstanding in some ways. That's normal in reality because of the excitement of the scenario. I'm sure the caregiver felt extremely helpless and bad about the scenario. Hopefully the caregiver will be able to do something about it and take a class in English as a second language. If not, then so be it and let that caregiver go and find a local community organization that can provide a caretaker who will be more 'up to par' . All accidents need to be reported with precise details so that any other negative issues can be avoided.
Hope your Grandmother is OK and that she will be able to work this out without any more stress, in which nobody really needs when it comes to accidents like this. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Isn't this America, where the national spoken language is supposed to be ENGLISH!!!!. Wrong, these days you are lucky if you can get a job, if you don't speak Spanish. They are trying to take over and conform our country to fit their needs. There are many who have lived here for years and years, yet they have made no attempt to learn our language. But they sure do learn fast how to work the system and get any benefits that they may need. While those of us who were born here, lived here, and worked here are left out in the cold.
That's not to say that they are probably the only ones that will take those kinds of jobs, as caregivers, for the wages that they are paid, but yes I agree for emergency and communicaiton purposes, H--- Yes, they should be speaking ENGLISH!!!!!

Answer 5

Agreed 100%.

I think back to a time long ago when I was at my first full time job after graduation. There was a little Italian guy who did maintenance for the whole building. There was only 1 man in the whole place besides him that could speak Italian. One day he was going about the office spraying for bugs. He used a product full strength that had an affect on some of us, and I ended up with a burnt throat. The one person who spoke Italian was away from the office. We had to track him down just to tell the maintenance guy to stop, and when he got back to the office explain to the maintenance guy what he had done wrong. Had this man been able to speak and read English, this whole painful mess could have been avoided.

I don't want to sound disrespectful to other cultures at all, but if you're working in this country, make it a priority to learn the language.

Answer 6

A caregiver has to be able to read medications and speak English. When I was doing this we had to keep a log on a daily basis of what pills were given, the time, bowel movements and if form or loose, foods eaten, comments from patient and also answer the phone and listen to nurses. I had to order new meds and refill the ones on hand when they ran low. It would be a danger to a patient if the person caring for them could not read or speak the language that is ours in the US. I am not sure where you are but it looks like a refugee center is placing new immigrants.
also the fed gov't will pay the wage of these people for 6 months. They are also sent to school to learn English. Source, I was a caregiver for years---in the 80's I purchased a bar and restaurant, I had immigrants in the restaurant when I took over. I had to let them go from attitude and abusive behavior toward me. Also had to deal with the ref. center as to why and how come.

Answer 7

In an ideal world this might be the case but sadly the only people who are willing to care for the elderly are those who can't get other jobs - often because of their poor
English or because they are undocumented. The main reason for this is that these jobs are so poorly paid. There is a lot of responsibility involved and very little respect or compensation. To require that aides speak comprehensible English would very likely leave many vulnerable people with no care at all.

Answer 8

i think it'd help and make things easier for everyone. My grandfather, who passed away 1 year ago had a caretaker that only spoke mandarin, and very little English (my family speaks cantonese on the side, English is our main language). Then she started a fight, and was fired. So then we hired this other lady who spoke English, Spanish, and learned Cantonese for us. It was very helpful.

Don't worry about the stereotypical thing, i felt the same way when he was alive. You want that person to be safe, but the language barrier can create problems.

Answer 9

To me it should be mandatory. It's tough enough when you are sick trying to deal with making sure your understood by a Dr. you can barely understand....let alone caregivers. My mother was being cared for by 2 caregivers at a nursing home.....being totally humiliated as it was....it didn't help having them laughing and babbling in some foreign language over her. I walked in at that time and it made me feel uncomfortable as well. She was in tears. She didn't know if they were laughing at her, about her, something else...didn't know if she was responding correctly.......it was horrible. It's tough enough being that vunerable let alone at the mercy of people you can't understand.

People can call me whatever names they see fit but I find it unacceptable. If you come to this country to work....speak English. I don't care what other languages you know.....fine if you can care for someone who speaks the same language....but I don't want anyone touching me that I can't communicate with. Period.

Answer 10

Yes the care givers should definitely speak the language spoken in the persons home who is being cared for. And for the very obvious reasons you stated. Additionally, to become an American citizen - you have to have a "working knowledge" of English. As a legal immigrant I am very familiar with this situation.