Home Health Care One of the Fastest Growing Industries in the Coming Decade.

Although the legal and administrative hurdles are being cleared to increase the use of home and community-based services, there is a very big potential problem.  Who will give the care?  The Paraprofessional Health Institute (PHI) points out in a recent report that there is a looming shortage of direct care workers.  Direct care workers are the hands on, front line workers such as nurse aids, orderlies, personal care attendants and others who work with individuals needing care in the consumer's home, assisted living facility or nursing home. 

The shortage is partially due to the arithmetic of the generations - lots of older adults needing care because of aging baby boomers - and not a lot of young people in the generations following them.  One of the other factors is that paid caregiver positions are not always as attractive to young people as some other types of jobs in regard to salary and benefits.  While the work is often very satisfying, it can also be difficult and demanding, physically and emotionally.  Injury rates are high and burn out is common, not to mention low pay and low social status.  Historically, most direct care workers are women with low educational levels, limited marketable skills and often, limited English. 
 
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will be a demand for 1 million new positions in direct care jobs over the next decade.  Personal and Home Care Aides and Home Health Aides will be the second and third fastest-growing occupations in the country just behind computer specialists.  The fastest-growing segment within those occupations will be in services for the elderly and persons with disabilities, specifically within the home and community-based arena.  In 2006 nearly a quarter of Personal and Home Care Aides were either directly employed by private households or self employed and working under a contract with a consumer.  As noted above younger women aged 25 - 54 are the main labor pool from which these workers are drawn.  Their numbers are projected to increase by less than 1 percent through 2016.  In addition, without improvements in pay, benefits and social standing, those women will not necessarily chose direct care work. 

You can get more detailed information from The U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and from the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute at www.PHInational.org.  PHI works to improve the lives of people who need home and residential care - and the lives of the workers who provide that care.  You can also visit www.phi-qcqj.org to learn more about how endeavors to ensure caring, stable relationships between consumers and workers, so that both may live with dignity, respect, and independence.