Making Their Days Happen

Most Americans, even with significant disability, want to live in their homes and communities. Without adequate supports from relatives or friends, people with difficulties performing basic activities of daily living (ADL) require paid personal assistance services (PAS) to remain at home. Nearly 8 million Americans need in-home ADL supports, and roughly 15% receive paid PAS. With aging baby boomers" and other demographic trends, the numbers of people needing paid home-based PAS will grow significantly in coming decades. But a mismatch between this rising demand and the paid PAS workforce has been widening for many years and now nears crisis proportions. This book reviews the health, civil rights, and labor policies affecting paid PAS (Chapters 2-4); draws from in-depth interviews to explore the characteristics and complex interpersonal dynamics of PAS consumers and providers (Chapters 5-12); and offers recommendations for improving future experiences of PAS consumers and providers (Chapters 13 and 14)"--