General Career Information
Aging Population Ignites New Opportunities For Health Workers

We're on the cusp of an elder boom. Older Americans are the fastest-growing segment of the population, and the demographic trend, which is expected to profoundly influence everything from our nation's hobbies to our healthcare system, is accelerating.

It's clear this explosion in the nation's elderly population will have a dramatic impact on the healthcare profession. Without a doubt, the elder boom will reshape the healthcare landscape and create new career opportunities in all segments of the industry.

The Shift Out of Nursing Homes

The elderly are becoming a much more active and independent bunch, spurring the demand for healthcare services outside nursing homes and other institutions. "There's speculation that people will be healthier as they age. The real challenge will not be in institutional care, but in attending to the needs of elderly people who are independent," says Robert I. Field, JD, MPH, PhD, director of the health policy program and associate professor of health policy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

"We're trying to keep elderly people from going into nursing homes and hospitals in the first place," says Mary Ann Schroeder, DNSc, RN, CS, associate professor at Catholic University of America's School of Nursing in Washington, DC. "We've seen a resurgence in interest in prevention and health promotion. We're trying to keep people well." The costs of providing care to individuals in their homes are generally less than providing care in hospitals or nursing homes, experts say, hastening the shift away from institutional care.

Healthcare's Most Wanted

Demand is growing across the entire healthcare spectrum for elder care workers. Primary care physicians and nurse practitioners will be key caregivers as the geriatric population increases, says Dr. Richard V. Homan, chairman of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Lubbock campus of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. According to Homan, Medical subspecialists like cardiologists and orthopedists will also be in demand.

Health workers who have been trained to improve patients' quality of life will be important to the elderly, says Field. "The demand won't be just for health professionals who will keep us alive, but for professionals who will help us be more productive and active," he says. For example, geriatric psychologists and physical, occupational and speech therapists "can make the marginal difference between a person just getting by and getting by happily and productively," notes Field.

"If you're an elderly person living at home and watching your contemporaries still traveling and enjoying life, you'll be motivated to do the same," he adds. "Such seniors won't hesitate to seek out a psychologist to ease depression, for example, or to see an OT or PT while recovering from a stroke."

Social workers, licensed counselors and nurses will also play big roles in caring for the elderly. Some will serve as geriatric care managers, says Sharon Holder, MSW, director of the Aging Resource Information Support and Education (ARISE) program at the Center on Aging at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center's School of Nursing. Geriatric care managers specialize in assisting older people and their families in meeting their long-term care arrangements.

Schroeder predicts that nurses will take on more supervisory responsibilities for elder care, directing paraprofessionals like home health aides and nursing home attendants who help the elderly with activities of daily living. "We can't bankrupt the country by providing professional care for everyone all the time. RNs will have to direct and administer care," Schroeder adds.

Emphasis on Teamwork and Compassion

As America ages, health professionals will collaborate on interdisciplinary teams to provide coordinated care for Alzheimer's patients, people recovering from strokes at home, and many other elderly patients, predicts Homan. "We'll have to be skilled at coordinating care across specialties."

Compassion and respect are two of the keys to working with the elderly, observes Holder. She points out that these days, experiences from health workers' personal lives often give them a better understanding of elderly patients. "More people," says Holder, "are becoming directly or indirectly affected by the aging population. If it's not our own loved ones, it's someone we know. We're all going to be there ourselves some day. You can't help but do a good job if you treat others as you'd like to be treated."

Links:

National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers

The Center on Aging at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center

Article on occupations in elder health