“If it was the end of their life, how can we make this the best for them?” This is the question that Maria Santiago based her Home Health Aide Training Institute around.
The CEO and Director of Home Health Aide Training Institute has been in the home health industry for years and launched her own home health aide training institute to allow aspiring aides to get certified and placed in positions where they can serve.
She sees her role as serving two groups equally, her students who want to work in the field and the patients who desperately need their help.
They aim to train students with enough heart and compassion to get patients through the lowest of times, providing the empathetic, skillful, and respectful home health care they deserve.
“I train my students to ensure that their patient is properly cared for in all aspects, both physical and emotional,” said Santiago.
3,000 students and recently received the lifetime achievement award from U.S. President Joe Biden for caring for the community and world.
A gap in the emotional side of things is one of the most troubling aspects Santiago has noticed in her industry. Below is Santiago’s best advice for fixing the empathy issue in the home health industry.
Fight Burnout
“One of the reasons I think aides don’t have empathy for clients is because they’re not fully engaged in the care they’re giving, and it’s really not their job of choice. They’re either using it to get financially secure in their lives, or they are just burnt out,” said Santiago.
Another variant of burnout is a phenomenon called compassion fatigue, where aides who work in fields that require empathy witness so much illness, tragedy, and sadness that they can’t process it and begin to shut down emotionally.
Burnout is also brought on by overworking, which is related to the ongoing lack of hospice and palliative care workers and the related compassion fatigue that the job can catalyze.
“Sometimes client aides are great, but after a while, they get burnt out and they neglect to care for themselves. And they pass that empty vessel to the clients they’re caring for,” explained the CEO.”
So, it’s important for aides to build some ‘me time’ into their schedules to limit burnout and allow them to truly focus while with their clients.
Embrace a Higher Power
Santiago runs her institute with an eye toward being spiritually in tune. With a belief that everyone has a journey created by God,
“I had a patient — a former nun — that had naval cancer, and one particular aide would stay with her and literally pray with her — take her to church and pray for her soul. For the patient, at her time of transition, she felt so provided for. The care the aide exhibited was just second to none,” said Santiago.
It’s About the Little Things
The CEO has a never-ending list of heartwarming stories from the last six years. She shared one case of a man with tongue cancer, and his caregiver would spoon-feed him ice cream every day and give him a choice of five flavors. He could not speak or eat on his own. “She didn’t have to do it, but she wanted to,” said Santiago.
Though these tasks aren’t strictly part of the job, they offer so much comfort to those suffering, and it’s this spirit that Santiago tries to instill in all of her students.
Do it With Heart
“The reason why I wanted to have an institute is to share an understanding of how to care. I feel that students come to our school with heart, but I teach them how to care for people. Going into this profession with your heart is important,” said Santiago.
Taking blood pressure, transporting patients, and administering medications can be taught, but heart needs to come from inside.
With Santiago’s advice, the home health industry could become a more heart-led and empathetic place.
About Maria Santiago
Maria Santiago is the CEO and Director of Home Health Aide Training Institute (HHATI), which trains certified nursing assistants and-certified home health aides. She recently won the Presidential Tribute of Excellence Award and her team has taught over 3,000 students to date. For more information about getting involved in home healthcare, please visit www.hhati.com
