LTC workforce needs are focus of new center

The supply, demand, distribution and capacity of the healthcare workforce needed to meet the needs of older or disabled individuals will be the focus of the new Health Workforce Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. The university is establishing the center under a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Bureau of the Health Professions, part of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

“Simply managing the activities of daily living often requires ongoing care from a combination of licensed and unlicensed health workers,” Joanne Spetz, PhD, the center’s director, said in a press release. “We believe that the demand for these workers will increase significantly in the coming years. Health policy decision-makers need tools and strategies to ensure that the United States has an adequate workforce to meet our long-term care needs.”

The center’s first studies will examine state-by-state differences in training requirements for personal care aides who work in people’s homes and in long-term care facilities, forecasts for care needs and how care settings affect the demand for long-term care workers, and wages and other factors tied to job mobility among long-term care workers. The health professions bureau will use the data gathered.

See other content by this author here.

Lois Bowers

Lois A. Bowers was senior editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living from 2013-2015.