移民在照顾美国的老年人、残疾人方面发挥着重要作用。

Immigrants Play Big Part in Caring for Older Adults, Disabled in US

Proposed limits on immigration to the United States may worsen the nation’s shortage of workers who care for old and disabled people, a new study finds.

More than three million immigrants work within the U.S. healthcare system. That represents 18 percent of all health care workers. Nearly 25 percent of care providers in nursing homes nationwide are immigrants. Nursing homes care for elderly adults and people with a physical disability or long-term health disorder¹.

Doctor Leah Zallman is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts. She was the lead writer of a report on the study. The report appeared earlier this month in the publication Health Affairs.

Zallman said, “We rely heavily on immigrants to care for the elderly and disabled, particularly in their everyday care.”

To take a closer look at the importance of immigrants in the healthcare system, Zallman and other researchers examined the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the 2018 Current Population Survey.

The survey found that 1 million workers in the long-term healthcare industry were immigrants. That represents 23.5 percent of total workers in such jobs.

Zallman noted² that immigrants are especially likely to work overnight hours. “This is an industry that needs people round-the-clock,” she said. “They [immigrants] are really filling the gaps.”

In 2017, more than 27 percent of direct care workers were immigrants. The study defined “direct care work” as nurses, home health aides or home care aides. Such workers help with everyday activities like helping³ people eat meals, put on clothes, and wash up.

Nurses and health aides perform other duties, such as taking a patient’s blood pressure and offering range-of-motion exercises.

Home care aides may help clean a patient’s home and cook food for them. They do not perform medical tasks.

The elderly population in America is expected to double by the year 2050. Workers who are prepared to care for elderly or disabled patients are already in short supply, the researchers noted.

The Health Resources and Services Administration predicts a 34-percent rise in the demand for direct care workers over the next 10 years.

Last month, the administration of President Donald Trump⁴ proposed legislation that would reduce the number of legal immigrants while placing more importance on educated, skilled immigrants. Such changes, the report noted, “could sharply reduce the number of low-wage immigrant workers.”

Albert Wu is a doctor and professor of health policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Maryland. He called the new study “very important and timely.”

Wu said, “The current proposal to restrict immigration to more skilled or professional applicants⁶ runs directly counter to the need for this category of work.”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

rely - v. to need (someone or something) for support, help, etc. : to depend on (someone or something

particularly - adv. more than usually

survey - n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something

applicant⁵ - n. someone who formally asks for something (such as a job or admission to a college) : someone who applies for something

counter - n. something that is made or done as a defense⁷ against or response to something else

category - n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way

round-the-clock - n. happening or continuing all day and all night

gap - n. a space between two people or things

1 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

6 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。