3.5 Million Workers Needed by 2030 to Care for Older Adults, Current Levels of Workforce Already Stretched
May 3, 2011
Older Americans Month Highlights Impact of Older Population on Health Care System, Experts Available to Discuss Growing Concern
Washington, D.C. – The rapidly growing population of adults aged 65 and older is outpacing our current health care system’s capacity to care for them. Without immediate action, the health care workforce will lack the capacity, both in size and ability, to meet the needs of older Americans, according to the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA), a coalition of 28 national organizations committed to addressing this looming crisis.
In an issue brief released in conjunction with Older Americans Month, EWA states, the current healthcare system is already overwhelmed by the demands for geriatric care. Those specializing in the care of older adults cannot meet the current demand let alone the projected needs for eldercare. “Concerted investments in the training, retention, and recruitment of health care providers as well as better coordination of eldercare services are needed to stem this potential crisis.” stated EWA Co-Convener Nancy Lundebjerg.
Observed in May, Older Americans Month - an initiative of the U.S Administration on Aging - offers an excellent opportunity to look at the critical steps that must be taken to strengthen the workforce so that older adults can receive quality care and services.
This year the first baby boomers turned 65 years old and by 2029 this group, totaling an estimated 70 million people, will have a significant impact on the U.S. healthcare system.
- Within 20 years, one in five Americans will be over 65 and an estimated 90 percent of them will have one or more chronic conditions.
- By 2050 the number of Americans over age 85, those who have the highest rate of chronic illness, poverty, and need for assistance with activities of daily living, will quadruple to 19 million.
- Adults over 65 account for nearly 26 percent of all physician visits, 47 percent of all hospital stays, 34 percent of all prescriptions, 34 percent of all physical therapy patients, and 90 percent of all nursing homes stays.
- 7.7 million people will have Alzheimer’s disease in 2030, up from 4.9 million in 2007.
Yet the number of workers in many eldercare professions is actually declining – precisely at a time when their services are needed more than ever before. Currently there are only 7,029 certified geriatricians practicing in the U.S. – half the number currently needed and falling. By 2020 the nursing workforce is expected to drop 20 percent below projected requirements. The number of geriatric psychiatrists has been falling since 2001 with current levels less than half the level needed to provide adequate care to the existing population of older adults.
It is estimated that 3.5 million additional health care professionals will be needed by 2030, including more than one million additional direct-care workers who will be needed by 2018. Eldercare is projected to be the fastest-growing employment sector within the health care industry. Strengthening the eldercare workforce is not only vital to our social infrastructure and improving the quality of care, but also has the potential to drive long-term economic growth.
“We must address the workforce shortage now. Not only because a strong, well-trained eldercare workforce will result in better care, but also because without interdisciplinary team care, greater demand will be put on family and informal caregivers,” noted Steven Dawson, co-convener with Ms. Lundebjerg of the Alliance. An estimated 43.5 million unpaid family caregivers provide care to a person 50 or older each year. The estimated economic value of family caregivers’ unpaid contributions is about $375 billion a year, yet their services aren’t without costs. According to “Caregiving in the U.S. 2009” report, 7 out of 10 employed caregivers report having to cut back on their working hours, change jobs, take a leave of absence, or stop working entirely as a result of their caregiving role.
The Eldercare Workforce Alliance believes that the development of new interdisciplinary models of care – models that cut across physical and mental health, long-term care, social services, and community-based settings – are necessary to provide quality care for older adults and support for caregivers. By focusing on recruitment, training, retention, and compensation of health care providers as well as supporting interdisciplinary teams, we will be able to meet the needs of older Americans both today and in the future.
