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Trends In Home Care Versus Nursing Home Workforce Sizes: Are States Converging Or Diverging Over Time?

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: There is strong preference among people with disabling conditions to receive care at home rather than in an institutional setting. Differences in state policies may make this more feasible in some states than others. Yet no study to date has examined trends in the long-term care workforce across states. Using state-level data on direct care workers from the period 2009-20, we examine trends in the sizes of the nursing home and home care workforces. We show that since 2009 most states have increased the size of their home care workforces and decreased the size of their nursing home workforces, but there is substantial variation across states in the magnitude of these changes. In addition, the gap between leading and lagging states in home care workforce size has grown over time. This suggests that more targeted efforts may be needed to ensure that people with disabling conditions can have their needs met in their desired setting across the nation.

Source: Health Affairs

DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00749

Authors: Esther M. Friedman, Madhumita Ghosh-Dastidar, Teague Ruder, Daniel Siconolfi, Regina A. Shih

Institutions: RAND Corporation, University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research

Language: English

Topic: Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities