Low-Wage America: Health Care for the Elderly, Part I
'Adult Day Care' for Aging Baby Boomers
Aide helps an elderly participant at John C. Lincoln Hospital's adult day care center play horseshoes.
The baby boom generation is getting close to retirement -- and many of those retirees will be headed to warm-weather spots such as Arizona, where at least one-quarter of the state's residents will be 60 or older by the year 2030.
That means a huge need for health care workers in the near future. In the first part of a two-part report from Arizona, NPR's Noah Adams visits an "adult day care" facility at John C. Lincoln hospital, and also goes to visit 88-year-old Lois and her home care worker Angelica. Lois can barely see and relies on Angelica for just about everything.
The work pays $10 an hour, and Angelica has one other client for a total of 20 hours a week. She says she'd like to work at least 40 hours a week. She and Lois have become friends, and Lois says she plans to hang on to Angelica as long as she can.
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