Cecily O'Connor
RedwoodAge.com

A newly formed coalition aims to fill a shortage of caregivers and health care providers who are needed to meet the rapidly expanding needs of aging boomers.

Highly trained homecare workers can help keep elders out of nursing homes. (AOA)

The Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA), which is made up of 25 organizations representing older adults and the eldercare workforce, is urging programs to increase workforce capacity, strengthen workers' competencies and improve coordination of care. The group held its first meeting recently in Washington.

The alliance came together following a spring 2008 report by the Institute of Medicine that showed how America's eldercare workforce is significantly understaffed and unprepared to care for a growing number of US older adults.

The report highlighted that by 2030, the number of Americans 65 or older will nearly double to 77 million; there are about that many baby boomers in the US.

The IOM also warned that roughly 20 percent of these adults will have five or more chronic health problems. Compounding the problem is that fact that older patients are living longer and have complex health needs. So rather than wait for a solution, most organizers feel that boomers and elders are best served by hands-on approach that includes training and some redesign of health care delivery.

"Eldercare is projected to be the fastest-growing employment sector in the healthcare industry, and strengthening these caregiving fields is essential to quality of care for older adults in America and may also drive long-term employment and economic growth," said Alice H. Hedt, who was named EWA project director during the D.C. gathering.

The alliance has proposed:

• Strengthening the direct-care workforce through better training, supervision and improved compensation;
• Addressing clinician and faculty shortages through incentives such as loan forgiveness. It also supports increased public funding for training and better compensation;
• Ensuring a competent workforce by encouraging agencies and organizations that certify and regulate the eldercare workforce to require demonstrated and continued competence'
• Redesigning healthcare delivery by adopting cost-effective care coordination models.

"EWA's goal is to develop practical solutions that will build a caring and competent workforce providing high-quality, culturally sensitive, person-directed, and family-focused care for America's elders," Hedt said.

The alliance plans to partner with older adults and their family members, as well as national organizations to work with the Obama Administration and Congress to effect changes. The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John A. Hartford Foundation helped fund the development of the Alliance. Atlantic has committed $1 million for Alliance activities.