The Future of Caregiving

PHI has released a new report, Caring for the Future: The Power and Potential of America’s Direct Care Workforce. Here are the key takeaways from the report

• Caring for the Future' describes the many profound challenges that have long faced this country’s direct care workforce.
• To our collective detriment, direct care workers remain undervalued and underutilized in the long-term care sector.
• Improving direct care jobs requires a comprehensive, national strategy that guides leaders across the public and private sectors.

The executive summary, available for download here, explains

Every day around the country, direct care workers leave their homes to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities have the care and support they need. These 4.6 million workers are the paid frontline of support for consumers and their families, growing as a workforce annually as people live longer and demand surges. They work in private homes, nursing homes, and residential care settings. They are unquestionably essential, as the COVID-19 pandemic has tragically underscored. They are predominantly women, people of color, and immigrants—diverse workers disproportionately impacted by structural racism and gender inequality. These workers are not valued, compensated, or supported at the level they deserve. Caring for the Future: The Power and Potential of America’s Direct Care Workforce explains these and other challenges and offers a clear and achievable path toward achieving quality jobs for this critical workforce.

The executive summary covers f0ur sections and lists eight recommendations.  The entire 126 page report is available here.