Caring during the COVID-19 crisis: Intersectional exclusion of immigrant women health care aides in Canadian long-term care
Abstract
Notes
Community organizations: n/a
Key findings:
- Immigrant and racialized women are over-represented among health care aids in long term care.
- COVID-19 has exacerbated preexisting economic and social exclusion of immigrant health care aides employed in long term care.
- Addressing intersectional inequalities experienced by low wage care workers must be a priority in efforts to improve long term care.
Key populations: racialized immigrant women health care aides who were working in long term care in Calgary, Alberta between January 1 and March 30, 2021.
Key recommendations:
- Increase workplace protections and financial supports to mitigate and to compensate for the risk of COVID-19 exposure that long term care health care aides face, as well as increasing the quality of their daily working lives and the resident care they provide.
- Renew government investment in public and not-for-profit long term care institutions in Alberta.
- Decrease barriers for unionization of health care aides in Alberta.
- Include health care aides in policy and planning discussions on how to reform and improve the long term care sector.
Location: Calgary, AB
Open access: No
Future research / gaps identified:
Future studies should include larger sample sizes and different study designs to corroborate/challenge the data in this study.
Integration timeline: not defined