Since March, social distancing advisories brought on by the spread of COVID-19 have forced workers across the state to alter the way they work. For some, it’s a matter of working from home or cutting back services that rely on in-person interactions; for others, the pandemic has led to an inability to do most, if not all, work.
But for those who work as personal care attendants (PCAs), there’s no way to provide “socially distant” care — and with that comes risks.
“If you or your coworkers don’t go out and do it, what is the person you’re caring for going to do as far as food and stuff like that?” said Lena Kunech, who has been a PCA for about three years. “It doesn’t change — you still have to do it.”
Kunech said her main concern is that she could contract the virus from other PCAs working for her employer, an elderly woman who lives in Greenfield.
“I have two children,” she said. “I don’t want to pass that on to my two children.”
She also worries about her employer, who is disabled, for whom she provides care several days a week.
“You don’t want anybody to get it, but you don’t want an elderly person to get it,” she said. “It’s not so much about what it’s doing to you — it’s what it’s going to do to that person.”
Personal care attendants like Kunech are often hired by elderly individuals or people with disabilities to carry out daily tasks, such as shopping, folding laundry or cleaning the house. They also assist their employers getting in and out of bed, taking baths and getting dressed.
“When it’s personal care, it’s personal,” said Angelina Ramirez, CEO at Stavros, an Amherst-based social services agency that provides programs and support that allow people to live independently at home.
Ramirez said the Personal Care Attendant program, which helps clients find and hire PCAs, is a big portion of the work Stavros does.
However, the fear of COVID-19 has made it difficult for people in her program to find PCAs they feel comfortable with having in their homes.
“Not everybody wants a PCA that went to, say, Joe Smith’s house and then Mary Smith’s house,” Ramirez explained. “They’re afraid maybe Joe had it and now Mary will get it. … People are saying ‘you can only come to my house and nobody else’s.’”
That becomes a difficult task in Franklin County, she said, where the population is already relatively small.
“Where do you find a PCA that only works for you? That’s become a real challenge,” Ramirez said, who added that Stavros has asked for waivers allowing their clients to access PCAs from outside the county.
On the flip side, she said, some PCAs are also nervous to continue working — both for the safety of themselves and their employer. Although Stavros doesn’t handle unemployment concerns, she said she has received calls from PCAs who are nervous.
“One of the things PCAs have is fear,” she said. “You’re putting your life in danger every time you go to work. I can’t imagine the anxieties that come with it.”
Barbara Bodzin, director at LifePath — another organization that helps elders and people with disabilities continue to live independently in their communities — said while demand for its Home Care Services program, which offers services such as home modification, transportation support and Meals on Wheels, has decreased about 20 percent, its PCA program has seen a considerable increase in demand.
She attributed the increase to the fact the PCA program allows clients to hire people who are familiar to them.
“The predicament of those we serve is that a lot of the individuals we serve are home-bound, and they’re safe within their home … but they need those services,” Bodzin said. “It’s a decision that each and every person needs to make.”
It was a decision Greenfield resident Janet Bond had to make.
“I can’t just say ‘I’ll take care of myself,’ because I can’t,” Bond said. “I depend on the help of others. That part of it is what makes it concerning.”
Bond said she doesn’t worry too much about her own health with respect to contracting COVID-19, but she is grateful to her PCAs who continue to work when they can and take time off when they can’t.
“I’m very glad that my PCAs have been responsible and, frankly, caring enough to not work, to keep to the two-week quarantine,” she said, explaining that at one point she had two regular PCAs out because they weren’t feeling well.
“It’s difficult for the PCAs who are filling in, because it can mean a lot of extra hours,” she said.
As for precautions she takes, Bond said that a lot of work done by PCAs already requires protective equipment, such as gloves. Currently, not all of her PCAs have masks.
Masks, if they are worn, are typically provided by the employer, according to Ramirez of Stavros. However, masks are in short supply and most employers don’t have them covered under their insurance, she said.
“If you are a person with a disability who happens to have COVID-19, you can call (the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency or MassHealth) directly, but otherwise, you’re like everybody else,” she said. “There’s no magic bullet. Everybody’s in this terrible boat of not having enough.”
Bodzin said LifePath’s PCA program is doing its best to provide personal protective equipment to its clients.
Ramirez noted that the state recently approved temporary hazard pay for health care workers, which includes personal care attendants.
“People need this service. They wouldn’t be getting it if they didn’t need it,” she said. “A personal care attendant is not only essential, but life-giving to a person with a disability.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.