Filipino Canadian RN/Instructor and Vancouver Council Candidate by Stephanie Troughton/Journalist Growing up in poverty and seeing disease ravage loved ones around him gave Vancouver council candidate Abraham Deocera obvious reasons for choosing caregiving as a profession. The father of two, husband and longtime RN/Instructor explains although he left the Philippines 20 years ago, he still remembers what it was like to live in a family of eight where essentials like food were sometimes scarce. “We were born into poverty,” says Deocera from his Vancouver home. “And sometimes there were just too many mouths to feed.” Deocera credits these circumstances with making him and his family members resourceful, entrepreneurial and advocative. Seeing the benefits of looking after his terminally ill father and mother who never fully recovered from a stroke at the age of 40, Deocera now strongly advocates for more caregivers working in the home. An aging population and shortage of healthcare providers are factors why Deocera believes having more healthcare providers available to work in the home would help with overcrowded hospitals and nursing homes where staffing shortages are prevalent. Further, by making it easier for families to look after aging or ill loved ones at home, those who have nursing experience but cannot get certified in Canada because they cannot get work experience would have an easier time getting their certification. This in turn would address the overall healthcare provider shortage. “Two important issues would be addressed at the same time,” maintains Deocera. In addition to healthcare advocacy, Deocera is passionate about improving Vancouver’s heritage preservation record and neighborhood safety. By implementing more Block Watch programs throughout the city, for example, Vancouver could lower crime rates such as burglary. “Block Watch is just one great example of how we could improve our neighborhood communities by simply creating stronger community among our neighbors.”
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 05:28:24 +0000
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