Direct Care Workers Growing and with It Challenges

Direct care workers, a group that includes nursing assistants, home health aides and personal care aides, are expected to comprise the United States' largest workforce by 2020, according to a new analysis from PHI, a direct care worker advocacy group whose work we have cited before.

The U.S. economy can expect to add 1.6 million caregiving jobs between 2010 and 2020, for a total of five million workers by 2020. Wages that accompany these jobs are expected to be on the low side.

The median wage for all direct care workers of $10.59 per hour was well below the median wage ($16.57) for all U.S. workers in 2010. Those without healthcare coverage in 2010 increased to 950,000, up from 900,000 the previous year.

The analysis predicts that by 2020, direct care workers who work in home- and community-based settings will outnumber direct care workers in long-term care facilities by more than 2 to 1. Read the full PHI report.

In related news, a study by researchers analyzed the working conditions and causes of injuries to these types of workers, particularly CNAs on multiple levels--from pay scale to job preparation to organizational culture.

• A work-related injury was reported by 60.2 percent of CNAs, with 24 percent unable to return to work.
• Higher wages were associated with less risk of on-the-job injury.
• New workers, frequent job changers and lower paid workers have a higher rate of injury than seasoned nursing assistants.
• Many injuries to CNAs are inflicted by aggressive residents.
• Aides working in facilities with assistive equipment were not less like to be injured than those in nursing homes that did not have the equipment.

Interventions that may reduce the risk of CNA injury include more comprehensive training, especially in dealing with aggressive residents, safe patient handling, time management and more according to researchers.

It is an interesting situation. On one hand you have jobs that are in demand. On the other they are low paying and often dangerous. Yet these very same people are the heroes of our healthcare system. And as you debate for-profit versus not-for-profit entities, hospital charity care policies, CEO salaries and the like, it is clear that there is room to grow in awarding these direct care workers a salary that would make them consider this not just a job but a rewarding career of which they are passionate about and purposefully dedicated.

Learn more ~ or join the conversation!

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