ORANJESTAD, Aruba — Aruba Elder Care Staffing remains a major challenge for residential care homes, with health inspector Cheryl Rosa-Fingal warning that facilities can struggle to recruit and retain enough qualified workers to provide appropriate care for older adults.
Rosa-Fingal, an inspector with Inspectie Volksgezondheid Aruba, or IVA, said many of the complaints received by the inspectorate concern the quality of care provided in elder-care facilities rather than individual employees alone.
However, staffing remains closely connected to care quality because employees must have the appropriate education, knowledge and experience to respond to residents with different medical and behavioral needs.
Aruba Elder Care Staffing Faces Recruitment Problems
Rosa-Fingal said finding qualified personnel for care homes is not easy.
One factor is that many facilities operate without subsidies while facing high operational expenses.
Professionally trained workers may also have opportunities at hospitals, SABA or other healthcare organizations where salary and employment conditions can be more attractive.
That creates competition for a relatively limited pool of qualified healthcare workers.
The high cost of living in Aruba can make salary levels particularly important when workers decide where to seek employment.
Qualified Workers Are Important for Complex Care
IVA continues emphasizing that care homes need personnel who understand the health conditions of the residents they serve.
Rosa-Fingal used Alzheimer’s disease as an example.
A caregiver without adequate knowledge of dementia may have difficulty understanding or responding appropriately when a resident experiences behavioral changes, confusion or aggression.
That can affect both the quality of care and the well-being of the person receiving assistance.
For that reason, she said training and professional preparation are essential rather than treating elder care as work that can be performed without specialized knowledge.
IVA Wants Professional Staff Available
According to Rosa-Fingal, some care-home directors have told IVA that they struggle to find workers who satisfy the required professional standards.
The inspector said IVA considers it important for facilities to have at least a qualified nurse or a verzorgende IG, a professionally trained individual-care worker, available to help guarantee a basic level of professional care.
The exact personnel required can also depend on the needs and health conditions of the residents living at a particular facility.
Staff Turnover Can Affect Continuity
Another concern within Aruba Elder Care Staffing is employee turnover.
Rosa-Fingal said IVA sees frequent changes in personnel at some care homes, while others are able to maintain more stable teams.
Frequent turnover can affect continuity because residents may repeatedly have to adjust to new caregivers.
Stable staffing can also help employees become more familiar with residents’ routines, medical needs and behavioral patterns.
For older adults who require consistent assistance, that familiarity can be particularly important.
Training Opportunities Being Developed
Directie Ouderenzaken is working on education and training opportunities intended to strengthen the elder-care workforce.
Aruba has already introduced cooperation between Directie Ouderenzaken and Colegio EPI aimed at offering flexible professional education for people working in the care sector.
Training can provide existing employees with an opportunity to improve their qualifications while continuing to work.
Developing more locally trained workers could also help address the longer-term shortage of qualified personnel.
IVA Collecting More Information
IVA is now gathering information from different care homes to develop a clearer picture of current staffing conditions.
Rosa-Fingal said the information will be structured and analyzed so authorities can identify areas requiring improvement.
The objective is not simply to identify staffing shortages but to understand how workforce conditions affect safety, professional standards and continuity of care.
For IVA, improving Aruba Elder Care Staffing will require qualified workers, ongoing training and greater stability within care-home teams.
As Aruba’s elderly population requires increasingly specialized support, ensuring that facilities have appropriately trained personnel will remain an important part of building a safer and more professional long-term care system.
