Healthcare Workers and the Aging Population Essay

The population of elderly people is rapidly increasing throughout the world. This trend is due to the aging of the so-called 'Baby Boom' generation's population and an increase in life expectancy. By 2050, the number of people in the United States aged 65 years and above is projected to be roughly 87.3 million, which is almost twice the figure of 43.1 million in 2012. In 2030, about 20% of the American population will be made up of older adults (Bandeen-Roche et al, 2015). This essay looks at whether today's healthcare workforce is effectively meeting the needs of the elderly population. It will also examine the changes that have to be put in place to ensure there are enough healthcare professionals in the future.

The changes in age distribution are likely to have significant health, economic, and social implications. A gradually aging population is accompanied by a rise in the prevalence of chronic illnesses and their effects. Often, elderly adults have different healthcare, support and long-term service needs when compared to young adults and children. Diseases and measures for treating them can impact them differently. Hence, they require care that puts into consideration such differences together with the numerous chronic health problems most of them experience. According to Bandeen-Roche et al (2015), estimates show that 90% of individuals aged 65 years and above suffer from at least one chronic condition such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, depression, and arthritis. The same way children should be checked by healthcare professionals with training in pediatrics, elderly individuals should be treated by those trained in geriatrics.

The rapidly increasing population of people aged 65 years and above is outpacing the capacity of the current healthcare system to offer care to them. If no immediate action is taken, the healthcare workforce will not have the capacity to satisfy the needs of elderly Americans, both in terms of resources and ability. The current system seems to be overwhelmed by the high demand for geriatric care. Professionals specializing in the care for elderly individuals are unable to meet the current demand, let alone the anticipated needs for this care. Concerted efforts in recruitment, training, and retention healthcare professionals together with better coordination for geriatric services are required in order to deal with this potential crisis (Wolff, Spillman, Freedman & Kasper, 2016).

The number of professionals who offer care for the elderly is actually on the decline- at a time when their services are in demand more than ever before. At the moment, there are about 8,000 certified geriatricians in the United States. However, the country requires about 17,000 such professionals to look after the estimated 12 million elderly individuals. By 2020, it is projected that the nursing workforce will drop to less than 20% of the current figures. The number of geriatricians has been on the decline since 2001, and the current number is less than half of those needed to offer sufficient care to the present population of elderly adults. It is projected that an extra 3.5 million healthcare professionals will be required by 2030, a figure that includes direct care workers (Kogan, Wilber & Mosqueda, 2016). Geriatric care is believed to be the fastest-growing sector in the healthcare industry that offers employment opportunities. Boosting the geriatrics workforce is not just crucial to improving the quality of care and social infrastructure. It also has the potential to spur long-term economic growth.

It appears that not enough healthcare professionals specialize in looking after older adults. There are a number of reasons as to why people are not joining the fields of geriatrics and gerontology. Medicare is among the most quoted reasons. The program offers health insurance coverage for a majority of elderly American citizens. However, in some cases, it offers payment rates that are less than those of private insurance. Such a situation means that healthcare professionals who specialize in caring for the elderly often early less than their counterparts in other sectors. Another reason is the fact that aging people suffer from multiple chronic conditions, meaning that their care can be a bit complex. Thus, healthcare providers have to spend more time looking after these patients, and also have to coordinate with other professionals like family caregivers. The system currently in place does not sufficiently compensate the additional time, effort, and coordination. Also, the supply of caregivers, who offer most of the long-term services and supports for the elderly, is unlike to keep up with the caregiving demand in the future. For instance, in 2010, the ratio of caregivers to patients aged over 80 years was more than 7 to 1. By 2030, that ratio is projected to reduce to 4 to1 (Gerst-Emerson & Jayawardhana, 2015).

Conclusion

The shortage of healthcare professionals who look after elderly people needs to be addressed now. A well-trained and strong geriatric workforce will lead to better care. In addition, informal and family caregivers will be strained too much in the absence of interdisciplinary team care. Putting in place new interdisciplinary care models is recommended in order to offer quality care for the aging population. Such models should cut across mental and physical health, social services, long-term care, and community-based settings.

References

Bandeen-Roche, K., Seplaki, C. L., Huang, J., Buta, B., Kalyani, R. R., Varadhan, R., ... & Kasper, J. D. (2015). Frailty in older adults: a nationally representative profile in the United States. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 70(11), 1427-1434.

Gerst-Emerson, K., & Jayawardhana, J. (2015). Loneliness as a public health issue: the impact of loneliness on health care utilization among older adults. American journal of public health, 105(5), 1013-1019.

Kogan, A. C., Wilber, K., & Mosqueda, L. (2016). PersonCentered Care for Older Adults with Chronic Conditions and Functional Impairment: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 64(1).

Wolff, J. L., Spillman, B. C., Freedman, V. A., & Kasper, J. D. (2016). A national profile of family and unpaid caregivers who assist older adults with health care activities. JAMA internal medicine, 176(3), 372-379.