Crisis in Aging: More Seniors, Fewer Workers Threaten the Ability of Connecticut's Seniors to Stay Home A recent study funded by the Connecticut Legislature based on surveys of 6,268 Connecticut residents and 500 long-term care providers, found that community-based services such as home care were inadequate to meet the needs of Connecticut's seniors or people with disabilities. Overall, more than one-third of the respondents reported they could not get all the services they needed to live in the community. At the same time, 80 percent said they would like to continue living in their homes with home health or homemaker services. Omaha, NE (PRWEB) May 20, 2009 A crisis in aging, fueled by increasing numbers of seniors and a decreasing work force, threatens the capacity of the state to meet the demand for long-term care needs of Connecticut older adults including their opportunity to remain at home, according to Home Instead Senior Care officials interviewed. "Aging in itself is not a crisis, but the combination of growing numbers of older adults and declining numbers in the working age population will exacerbate an existing crisis in the ability to provide needed care, and to give people appropriate choices in how they receive that care," said Noreen Shugrue, JD, MBA from the University of Connecticut Health Center. Shugrue was part of a research team that drafted the June 2007 Connecticut Long-Term Care Needs Assessment, a project funded by the Connecticut Legislature. The long-term care needs assessment, based on surveys of 6,268 Connecticut residents and 500 long-term care providers, found that community-based services such as home care were inadequate to meet the needs of Connecticut's seniors or people with disabilities. Overall, more than one-third of the respondents reported they could not get all the services they needed to live in the community. At the same time, 80 percent said they would like to continue living in their homes with home health or homemaker services. For residents, one of the greatest unmet community-based service needs is for homemaker services for assistance with tasks such as laundry, shopping and cleaning. The state could soon be overwhelmed by these needs and an exploding demographic. The U.S. Census Bureau predicts the number of seniors over the age of 65 in Connecticut to grow by 20.4 percent between 2005 and 2015, or roughly 100,000 seniors.1 With more of those seniors expected to remain at home, the projected growth in the occupation of personal and home care aides also is on the upswing. In Connecticut, the personal and home care aides job category - which primarily includes professionals who help the elderly and persons with physical, mental health or cognitive disabilities live in their own homes or in residential care facilities instead of in health facilities - is expected to increase 33 percent between 2006 and 2016 - from 6,340 to 8,450, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.2 Nationwide, that job category is forecast to be the second fastest-growing. But with workforce shortages also projected, who will fill these jobs to provide care for seniors who want to stay at home? "A shortage of caregivers could become a national crisis issue," said David DeLancy, owner of the Home Instead Senior Care office serving the Guilford area. A January 2009 Annual Report released by Home Instead Senior Care entitled "When the Age Wave Hits: The State of Senior Caregiving in America," estimated that more than two million caregivers nationwide will be needed to keep pace with the demand in the decade ahead. "At our company alone - the largest of its kind, but one of many throughout our country - the number of CAREGivers nationally is about 60,000," DeLancy said. His Home Instead Senior Care office is part of an international franchise company whose professional CAREGivers go into the homes of seniors to help them with their non-medical needs such as companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, medication reminders, errands and shopping. "To keep pace with this projected demand for caregivers, our company would have to double its care force in just three years, according to our research," DeLancy explained. "On a positive note, these projections will mean job opportunities for area workers hit hard by the economy, providing a flexible part-time option for additional income or a new career in a fulfilling job field - caring for older adults. We've certainly seen the needs of seniors in our area drive the demand for our services, which in turn creates more caregiving jobs," DeLancy said. The impending crisis is not only providing jobs, but business opportunities. "We're hoping to expand to meet the growing needs of seniors in Connecticut," said Tim Connelly, Home Instead Senior Care Director of Franchise Development. "With demographics like this, Home Instead Senior Care provides a solid model for a successful business, even in these unsure economic times," he added. "Business professionals who are seeking opportunities in a field with unlimited growth potential should consider senior care," he noted. "We look for professionals with a love of seniors and a solid track record of business success." When asked how they plan to handle the anticipated future workforce shortages in Connecticut, the vast majority of providers in the long-term care needs assessment said the answer is some form of recruitment and retention. Very few addressed the creation of a larger overall long-term care workforce, according to the study. "Expanding senior-care services such as caregiving jobs and franchise business opportunities is one way to do that," Connelly said. For more information about the impending shortage of qualified senior caregivers in the U.S., contact Dan Wieberg, Public Relations Manager at 888-484-5759. 1. U.S. Census Bureau; http://www.census.gov/population/projections/SummaryTabB1.xls
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