PHI President Steven Dawson‘s article on the direct-care workforce was published in the March/April issue of Aging Today.

The article notes that the predominately female direct-care workforce is aging along with the rest of the population. By 2018, as much as 30 percent of the direct-care workforce will be age 55 or older.

The aging workforce is a cause for concern, because older workers alone cannot meet the growing demand for services. Younger workers — both female and male — will need to be recruited to the field of direct care to address the support and service needs of growing numbers of elders and people with disabilities.

Dawson proposes several ways to ensure a strong, capable direct-care workforce in the future, including better training and “a fresh look at the job design of home care workers.”