The Home Health Aide: Scarce Resource in a Competitive Marketplace

Abstract

Direct-care staff—home health aides and personal care attendants—are the very point where home care “touches the client.” Yet our system of care delivery has never been designed for the needs of the direct-care worker. Today we are paying the price: Across the country, our industry is experiencing the highest rates of direct-care vacancies and turnover in its history. The very future of our industry now rests on our ability to attract workers within an increasingly competitive labor market. In order to survive, let alone provide high-quality care, the home care industry must restructure paraprofessional employment.