Caregiver Burnout

Good Morning, I’m Annica Colbert….it’s Wednesday, December 16th. The pandemic worsens burnout for caregivers of disabled veterans. That story is coming up...But first... let’s do the headlines…. San Diego County public health officials reported more than 1,800 new COVID-19 infections and 32 deaths on tuesday. Meanwhile, staff at Rady Children’s hospital received their first rounds of vaccines. In three weeks healthcare workers will need a second round. This first shipment of vaccine doses is expected to immunize about 70% of local healthcare workers. When vaccines are more widely available...It’s possible your employer could require you to get a COVID-19 vaccine. San Diego employment law attorney Dan Eaton says employers can’t force people with compromised immune systems or bonafide religious objections to get a vaccine, but for everyone else...Eaton says employers have broad latitude as part of their duty to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. California’s eviction-moratorium is set to expire next month. State lawmakers are working on new legislation to try and keep renters in their homes. The bill would extend eviction protections through the end of next year. But landlord groups say nearly two years of missed payments is too long. Under the proposal, tenants would have to pay at least a quarter of their rent to avoid eviction. From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need. Burnout is a common problem for family members who care for disabled veterans. And for many of them, the pandemic has made things even harder. Now, a new program is working to give some caregivers a break. Cathy Carter reports for the American Homefront Project. Before COVID-19, Lara Garey of Austin Texas had a network of support when it came to care for her husband Tom, an air force veteran diagnosed in 2016 with service related ALS. ["And once COVID hit, we had to stop everybody coming into the house so it was just crazy stressful."] Even before the pandemic, Garey's daily responsibilities as her husband's primary care left little time to focus on anything else. Without support from family and friends, somedays have felt overwhelming. ["Caregiving for me, because of Tom's high level disability, is am I gonna get a shower today? Am I going to get to sit down and actually drink a hot cup of coffee?"] Now after eight months of nearly going it alone, Garey has received some much needed help with a free respite relief program from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation – Twice now, respite workers have come to Garey's house to prepare meals and clean the kitchen.That's a huge job, because Tom has a feeding tube, and his food has to be chopped, blended, and liquified. ["Those are all things that in addition to my normal caregiving duties I have to take care of. So you just tend to forget that it takes a tremendous amount of energy. But you're used to as a caregiver putting yourself last.] Professional caregiving company CareLinx and the Wounded Warrior Project donated one million dollars each to launch the nationwide Respite Relief for Military and Veteran Caregivers program. The Dole Foundation's CEO Steven Schawb says the organization saw the need as the pandemic meant military caregivers were dealing with long term isolation. ["Anxiety, depression is skyrocketing among caregivers. And all of that equates to a crisis happening in millions of homes across America right now."] In a recent Dole Foundation survey, respite relief was the top need identified by veteran caregivers. Still, says Schwab many have concerns about safety because they're looking after people with serious illnesses. ["So on a typical day, that veteran, that caregiver, that family, is vulnerable. Now that we're inside a pandemic, it can be life threatening."] Schwab says before going into the home, professional health care workers complete a symptom check and recipients are also screened for COVID symptoms. That's important for the health of people like Air Force veteran Laura Navarez who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2016 after an IED attack. The blast caused her to suffer post traumatic stress disorder and also damaged the nerves that control everyday functions like her blood pressure and heart rate. That's why a notice with a red stop sign has been taped to the door of her home in Clearwater Florida since March. It alerts any would be visitors that she has a weakened immune system. ["My doctors called the house and was like are you staying at home and I was like yes I'm staying at home because literally everything they started saying for people that were succumbing to it--I was checking all the boxes basically."] Joseph Narvaez is his daughter's caregiver. He's also a fellow with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and an advocate for other veteran caregivers. These days he hears alot about how overburdened they feel because of COVID-19. ["Respite care is paramount so it's my job now to educate them and where to get help and how to get help." ] Steven Schwab of the Dole Foundation expects the program to cover 75,000 hours of care for more than 3,000 caregivers. The next step, he says, is to develop a long term plan for respite relief. ["Because we want to change the model of the Department of Veterans Affairs in the ways that they're going to offer respite care post-pandemic on a sustained basis. So those investments are going to be super important.] Because after the professionals leave, veteran caregivers are back on duty and for many, its a full-time job. I'm Cathy Carter in Tampa. That was Cathy Carter reporting from Tampa. This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Now that San Diego county has its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, you’re probably wondering when exactly you can get one. KPBS’ Jacob Aere has more on the timeline... The exact timeline for COVID-19 vaccine rollout is not set in stone, but the order of people who will receive the shots in California will follow the CDC’s three-phased approach. Phase 1 has three sub-tiers to account for the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines available. In Phase 1a, California will focus its efforts on vaccinating its critical populations, including healthcare personnel and long term care facility residents. Phase 1b will come afterward and vaccinate essential workers, some of which include firefighters, police, corrections officers and those in the education, utilities, transportation and food and agriculture sectors. Phase 1c will then focus on vaccinating adults older than 65 or adults with high risk medical conditions. As vaccine supplies increase, Phase 2 will take effect. During this stage, there will be a focus on ensuring access to vaccines for all critical populations who were not vaccinated in Phase 1 and providing access to the vaccine for the general population. In Phase 3, when there is a sufficient supply of doses, the goal will be ensuring equitable vaccination access across the entire population and helping communities with low coverage. JA KPBS News. A group of Latina leaders in San Diego is calling for more support for their communities. This comes after new county data shows how the pandemic has disproportionately affected them. KPBS’ Max Rivlin-Nadler reports. The data from the San Diego Association of Governments…. shows that half of Latino residents in San Diego live in an area with higher than average COVID numbers…. And over 50% of all COVID cases in San Diego are from Latino residents, who only make up 34% of the population…In addition to the health impact, the leaders, part of the group Mana De San Diego, say the pandemic has crushed job sectors filled with Latinas. Mary Salas is the mayor of Chula Vista. The hardest hit sectors in the economy were tourism, retail, and education. If you look at the numbers, the education retail and tourism industries represent 80% of the job losses. The Latina leaders stressed that any recovery for these communities will need to prioritize educational and training opportunities for the lowest-paid workers in the state. Max Rivlin-Nadler, KPBS News. California monarchs are in trouble. The western population of the iconic butterflies is crashing. KPBS Environment Reporter Erik Anderson has more. The holiday weekend survey of Monarch wintering sites, only found two thousand of the orange, black and white butterflies. That’s down from about 30-thousand last year. Some biologist fear the species is in an extinction spiral. Meanwhile, The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service says the butterflies deserve endangered species protection, but not until the agency resolves other priority projects. The San Diego Zoo’s Paige Howorth says federal help may come too late. “I think this is a warning to the greater population. This petition for listing was submitted in 2014 and here we are in 2020 with less than two-thousand butterflies that figured out how to get to overwintering sites. In the mid-eighties there were millions of monarchs in the west and the population count was 200-thousand just three years ago. Coming up...longtime county supervisor Dianne Jacob nears her last day working for the Board of Supervisors. We’ll hear from Jacob for one final time as she reflects on her seven-term tenure. That’s next, just after this break. The San Diego Board of Supervisors is transitioning from a Republican to a Democratic majority for the upcoming term. And Republican Dianne Jacob is heading into retirement. KPBS Midday Edition host Maureen Cavanaugh asked Jacob about her reflections on her 27-year tenure with the Board of Supervisors. That was outgoing Republican Supervisor Dianne Jacob speaking with KPBS Midday Edition host Maureen Cavanaugh. ….That’s it for the podcast today. Be sure to catch KPBS Midday Edition At Noon on KPBS radio, or watch KPBS Evening Edition at 5 O’clock on KPBS Television. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Annica Colbert. Thanks for listening and have a great day.