The long-term care sector’s ongoing workforce challenges may at times seem too complicated to solve, but providers should take action aimed at both big-picture and internal, work culture solutions.
That was the message from speakers on Friday when they highlighted the state and federal action that many providers agree is necessary to meet the needs of a struggling senior care workforce.
Providers can take proactive steps to improve their care quality and retain a healthier workforce, according to Robyn Stone, senior vice president of research at LeadingAge and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. Her session was sponsored by the Abel Foundation and hosted by Meg LaPorte, executive director of the Maryland Regional Direct Services Collaborative.
“Policy has to change too because we’ve got to be able to support this at a higher level,” Stone said, “but there is a lot that employers can do … it’s not just going to be a solution from above. It’s going to come from your own organization.”
The speakers highlighted key demographic statistics about the current workforce challenges in long-term care — including the approximately 40% of care workers who need to be on some form of government assistance to supplement their income, according to Stone.
LaPorte also noted that the workforce overwhelmingly comprises women workers; a majority are people of color and nearly 30% are immigrants. She also referred to a recent study that revealed that care workers are much more likely to have experienced childhood trauma than the general population.
“We are really talking about the working poor often,” Stone elaborated. “These are the folks that are caring for our most vulnerable … it is a travesty to me.”
Stone celebrated the diversity of the sector, but also noted that it only further highlights the importance of properly supporting care workers that have often been neglected by wider society.
Compensation and support
Few providers will be surprised that the experts emphasized pay levels and reducing overwork and burnout as major challenges that need to be overcome. A majority of workers who had left long-term care cited them as factors that could bring them back.
Staff retention also was a focus, and speakers noted how providers could be proactive about it.
Three representatives of Maryland-based provider Keswick told attendees that it’s vitally important to build a culture that cares for nursing assistants and provides them with proper training and career development within that role.
“Aides have to feel appreciated because we are the backbone of the nursing homes,” said Holly Ward, a geriatric nursing assistant at Keswick. “We are the first ones to know everything. Sometimes we become their surrogate family.”
Melody Nwokolo, GNA preceptor at Keswick, and Regina Figueroa, executive director at Keswick, emphasized the importance of leadership, mentoring and adequate training — especially in areas that may not be covered by certification programs.
“There’s a lot to be done, and I don’t think it’s going to be just in continuing to recruit,” Figeuroa said. “It’s not just the quantity, it’s the quality.”
The experts noted that many nursing assistants view the profession as a career, not merely a stepping stone to higher levels of nursing. Providers should be pushing to provide specialization and adequate compensation to make that career a reality with a living wage, Stone said.
“The solution has to be in retention,” she said. “We need to develop these careers and we need to be paying for them. And that’s going to cost more money … but at the end of the day, every time you have a turnover, that costs substantial amounts of dollars that are never figured into the equation.”
