Member Research

Preparing for the Future

Member: LeadingAge

Developing Technology-Enabled Long-Term Services and Supports for a New Population of Older Adults

A Collection of 18 Case Studies from Pioneers in the Field

EWA member LeadingAge addresses the role of technology in the future of long-term aging service providers, looking at business models for both improving efficiency and providing quality care to a growing number of older adults. Within the case studies, LeadingAge looks at a variety of aging service providers, ranging from nursing homes to private homes. The study examines a wide variety of technologies, such as infrastructure technologies, safety technologies, health & wellness technologies, documentation technologies, and social networking technologies. The study highlights promising new business models and the challenges and benefits of new developments.

Experienced Voices: What Kind of Care Works Best for Dual Eligibles?

Member: AARP

Insights from Focus Groups with Older Adults Enrolled in Both Medicaid and Medicare

In an effort to improve care and hopefully reduce costs, states and the federal government are seeking new ways to provide services to dual eligible—people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.  Missing from the discourse are the voices of dual eligibles themselves.  Changes to the way their care is organized and delivered could have profound effects on their health, quality of life, and satisfaction. This project is intended to complement state and federal efforts to develop innovative approaches to serving dual eligibles by offering consumer perspectives on what duals want from their models of care.

Caring in America: A Guide to America’s Home Care Workforce

Member: PHI - Quality Care through Quality Jobs

Numbering on the order of 2.5 million workers, the home care and personal assistance workforce in the United States has reached historic proportions and is expected to increase at rates four to five times that of jobs overall in the economy. Using the best data and research evidence available, this national report presents the most complete picture possible of America’s home care and personal assistance workforce, with the hope that this material will support a more informed public discussion of the key policy issues shaping the future of in-home services and supports upon which families, communities, and businesses increasingly depend.

Caregiving Costs: Declining Health in the Alzheimer’s Caregiver as Dementia Increases in the Care Recipient

Member: National Alliance for Caregiving

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s can impact your own health and increase healthcare costs. This latest Alliance study shows a significant decrease in family caregiver health as their care recipient’s dementia increases. While there are studies that indicate that the health of family caregivers may be adversely affected, especially as their caregiving continues and becomes more intense, this study specifically examines the use of formal health services in a large sample of Alzheimer’s disease caregivers.

Alzheimer's From the Frontlines: Challenges a National Alzheimer's Plan Must Address

Member: Alzheimer's Association

A new report from the Alzheimer's Association details the challenges that Americans dealing with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias face every day. Over 43,000 people across the country participated in the public input process to share their insights, concerns, and hardships. The report highlights these concerns and identifies several key issues that must be addressed in the implementation of NAPA, the National Alzheimer's Project Act.

No Time to Waste: Making NAPA Work

Member: Alzheimer's Foundation of America

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) played a significant role in the passage and implementation of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA). Since the implementation of the law, nine months ago, AFA has received the insight of family caregivers, clinicians, researchers, long-term care professionals, direct care professionals, law enforcement officers, policymakers and the general public vis-à-vis their experiences with Alzheimer’s and their hopes and ideas for making NAPA work. The “No Time to Waste” report is a compilation of those many voices, along with AFA’s input, on what is necessary for NAPA to succeed in overcoming Alzheimer’s.

PHI Launches First State Data Center on the Direct-Care Workforce

Member: PHI - Quality Care through Quality Jobs

The first web-based tool to host comprehensive, state-by-state profiles of the direct-care workforce -- nursing home aides, home health aides, and personal care assistants (including direct support professionals) -- is now just a click away.

The new PHI State Data Center provides easy-to-read charts with up-to-date, key direct-care workforce statistics for every state, which can be easily downloaded and reproduced.

Valuing the Invaluable: 2011 Update The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving

Member: AARP

Family support is critical to remaining in one’s home and in the community, but often comes at substantial costs to caregivers themselves, to their families, and to society.  If family caregivers were no longer available, the economic cost to the U.S. health care and long-term services and supports (LTSS) systems would increase astronomically.

Rural–Urban Distribution of the U.S. Geriatrics Physician Workforce

Member: American Geriatrics Society

The American Geriatrics Society's Geriatrics Workforce Policy Studies Center released new findings on the distribution of geriatricians across the rural–urban continuum from 2000 to 2008, compared with primary care physicians in 2008.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish: Fairness and Funding at the National Institute on Aging

Member: Alzheimer's Foundation of America

In stark contrast to the rapidly-rising costs of healthcare for the aging, we as a nation are making a miniscule—and declining—investment in the prevention, treatment or cure of aging conditions. Out of each dollar appropriated to the NIH, only 3.6 cents goes toward supporting the work of the NIA. Today, the NIA’s percentage of the total NIH budget is at the lowest point since 1990.