U.S. Needs to Triple Health Care Workers
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 May 2003, 06:00 CDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The 2 million health care workers now employed will need to triple by 2050 to meet the needs of the large, aging baby boom generation, the Bush administration said Tuesday.
Only about 1.9 million such workers - including nurses, nurse aides, home health and personal care workers specializing in long-term health - were employed in 2000, according to a report released by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
About 5.7 million to 6.5 million will be needed by 2050. The estimates, requested by Congress, were based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
A shortage already exists, the report said.
"The shortage of long-term care workers, if left unaddressed, will affect all Americans in very personal ways," Chao said.
The number of people using nursing facilities, alternative residential care or home care services is expected to increase from 15 million in 2000 to 27 million in 2050.
"If we want to ensure quality long-term care for baby boomers, we need to act now to build the work force and encourage creative ways to improve long-term care," Thompson said.
Unpaid informal caregivers, primarily family members, neighbors and friends, currently provide the majority of long-term care services. That is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050, an increase of 85 percent.
For paid caregivers, low job satisfaction, low salaries, poor benefits and a lack of training and education opportunities all contribute to high turnover and fewer people considering health care as careers the report said.
Both departments are working jointly on a strategy to address the employment needs. The effort includes job training programs, apprenticeship programs and a national nursing panel.
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