Antigua and Barbuda’s Social Transformation Ministry has successfully trained 222 professional caregivers over the past two years while confronting a persistent shortage in elder-care services, Minister Rawdon Turner revealed during Monday’s parliamentary Budget Debate. Despite this significant workforce development achievement, the nation requires at least 200 additional trained caregivers to adequately address its escalating elderly and disabled care needs.
The minister detailed how program graduates have begun filling critical vacancies across the care sector, with many employed in private home care settings while others have qualified for ward-assistant positions at medical facilities due to their comprehensive training standards. Turner specifically credited Program Director Charles and Nurse Pascal for maintaining the initiative’s instructional quality and overall success.
However, Minister Turner cautioned that demographic pressures continue to outpace training capabilities, with 54 individuals currently undergoing instruction in the latest cohort. He emphasized that expanding waitlists and a growing elderly population necessitate urgent action, indicating that sustained discussions with program leadership confirm the need for 200 additional caregivers even if current training trends continue.
The ministry remains committed to workforce development but simultaneously appealed to families to maintain active involvement in caring for their relatives, highlighting the complementary roles of institutional training and family support in addressing the national care deficit.