An International Review of the Long-Term Care Workforce

Abstract

The developed world's population is aging, due to trends of increased life expectancies and decreased fertility rates. These trends are predicted to increase demand on long-term care services. At the same time, the long-term care workforce is in shortage in most of the developed world. Moreover, such shortages are expected to increase due to parallel socio-demographic factors. The increase in demand for longterm care, coupled with shortage in supply of care workers, has promoted some attention from policymakers. The current paper provides an international review of institutional arrangements for long-term care in different developed countries and in particular explores different strategies used or proposed to resolve the shortage in the long-term care workforce.

Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Certified Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes: How Do They Differ?

“…The Institute of Medicine concluded that our country is facing an "impending health care crisis as the number of older patients with more complex health needs increasingly outpaces the number of health care providers with the knowledge and skills to adequately care for them" (Institute of Medicine, 2008, 1). Other developed countries experience similar shortages in long-term care staff (Hussein & Manthorpe, 2005). Given existing high turnover and vacancy rates, increased demand for these paraprofessionals will be hard to satisfy (Wiener, 2006;Decker et al, 2003).…”

Modernising social care services for older people: scoping the United Kingdom evidence base

“…In common with other developed countries (Hussein and Manthorpe 2005), UK policy has recently emphasised the recruitment and retention of staff in the social care of frail older people (DH 2001). In A Quality Strategy for Social Care, the importance of the workforce was reiterated : 'Social care staff comprise the greatest asset services possess ' (DH 2000: 9).…”

Women from the Middle East and North Africa in Europe: understanding their marriage and family dynamics

“…Acceptance of traditional gender roles may curtail women's freedom of movement, and their autonomy as employees. While shortages in the social work and related workforces mean that migrant workers are of growing importance to all social work and associated employers (Hussein and Manthorpe, 2005), the data reported above suggest that if employers provide as much flexibility as they can for female employees to manage the demands of family and childcare and of work this may lead to greater retention or satisfaction. Workplace support for women who may have to take leave for family duties, or who need childcare, may be attractive to migrant female workforces.…”