- Numbers:
- There were more than 3.4 million Home Health Aides and Personal Care Aides (HHA/PCA) working in the US in 2019; this number is expected to grow to 4.6 million by 2029. (1)
- Professional care workers assist more than 7 million older adults and people with disabilities who live at home. (2)
- An estimated 21.3% of adult Americans (53 million) provided (unpaid) care to an adult or child with special needs in 2019. (3)
- Rewards of receiving or providing in-home care:
- In many cases, benefits include increased convenience and well-being for care recipients, and reduced costs. (4)
- Professional home healthcare workers report this work can feel rewarding, when they know clients appreciate their work; this work can provide personal satisfaction to care providers through knowing that they are helping people in need and helping them remain at home. (5)
- In a recent survey, 51% of unpaid (family) caregivers reported that caregiving gave them a sense of purpose or meaning in life. (3)
- Some costs of providing in-home care:
- Paid and unpaid care providers assist care recipients with several activities of daily living that are physically taxing on care providers, including bathing, toilet hygiene, and transfers.
- In a recent survey, 38% of Home Care Aides reported having “no access to equipment to move client”. 20% reported experiencing back pain at least once per week, 23% reported needing to take medication for their back pain, and 26% considered their back pain to be work-related. (6)
- An estimated 62% of the general US population self-reported their health as excellent or very good in 2018, in comparison to only 41% of adults providing unpaid care to a family member or friend. (3)
- In a 2013 study of unpaid caregivers, 94% reported experiencing musculoskeletal discomfort in the prior 4 weeks; importantly, 54% reported that their symptoms impacted their paid work and 56% reported their symptoms impacted their caregiving. (7)
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References
(1) Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Home Health Aides and Personal Care Aides,
at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home-health-aides-and-personal-care-aides.htm, Retrieved Feb. 2021.
(2) PHINational, Direct Care Workers in the United States: Key Facts. 2020, Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, Inc. https://phinational.org/resource/direct-care-workers-in-the-united-states-key-facts/
(3) AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, 2020. Caregiving in the U.S., Retrieved from: https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2020/05/full-report-caregiving-in-the-united-states.doi.10.26419-2Fppi.00103.001.pdf.
(4) National Research Council. (2011). Health Care Comes Home: The Human Factors. Committee on the Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, Board on Human-Systems Integration, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
(5) Butler, S.S., Wardamasky, S., Brennan-Ing, M., 2012. Older women caring for older women: the rewards and challenges of the home care aide job. J Women Aging 24, 194-215. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08952841.2012.639667
(6) Quinn, M.M., et al., Occupational health of home care aides: results of the safe home care survey. Occup Environ Med, 2016. 73(4): p. 237-45.
(7) Darragh, A.R., Sommerich, C.M., Lavender, S.A., Tanner, K.J., Vogel, K., Campo, M., 2015. Musculoskeletal Discomfort, Physical Demand, and Caregiving Activities in Informal Caregivers. Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society 34, 734-760.