Estimated reading time - 5 min
The demographic time-bomb
In many developed countries, there is an increasing challenge in providing care for a growing population of elderly people. In 1960, there were 5.1 workers per pensioner in the USA, while in 2022 it fell to 2.8 and it is predicted to keep on falling to 2.5 by 2060.
Not only does it affect funding of services, but it impacts the number of people willing and able to provide the care. It’s a similar picture in many other developed countries.
The direct care sector is projected to add over 1 million new jobs between 2021 and 2031, more than any other occupation in the United States. Demand for direct care workers is projected to increase significantly with a 43% growth in demand for personal care aides between 2020 and 2035.
But it’s not a future problem… staff recruitment and retention is an issue today for care providers.
In a recent European report, 65% of provider organizations surveyed cited turnover as a major problem for their operations. In their free response comments, some organisations framed the issue as threatening the fundamental sustainability of the Personal & Household Services (PHS) sector.
In the same report, 57% of PHS workers surveyed said that they do not consider their job sustainable until retirement age. Nearly 40% of workers reported that the job did not allow for a good work-life balance.
In the UK, the job vacancy rate for adult social care workers is 9.9%, 2.8x the UK average of 3.5%.
In this blog, we’ll explore how blended home care models could assist with recruitment and retention of care staff and allow care agencies to be more efficient in using the staff they have to deliver better levels of care.
Why Blended Home Care could help
Blended home care blends traditional in-person caregiving with technology-enabled remote-care. Tasks such as checking in on a client can be done remotely via a video call and on-screen reminders. Reminders on the TV to take medication or to do exercises promotes better adherence to wellness and healthcare regimes. Video and group calling with friends and family improves social inclusion and reduces loneliness. Monitoring allows for abnormal situations and activities to be identified and responded to. Remote services are complemented by in-home visits to help with getting dressed, washing, etc. to offer a complete care package. This model provides enhanced personalized care to seniors while addressing some of the inefficiencies and challenges inherent in the traditional home care model. Care providers could potentially attract and retain a stable workforce, by providing more flexible working conditions and improving job satisfaction.
Flexible Working Conditions
Blended home could allow carers to balance in-home and remote work. This flexibility could attract employees who are unwilling or unable to travel to client homes, broadening the pool of potential recruits. This model may also help agencies stand out in a competitive job market.
Carers are generally paid, and customers billed, by the hour. In order to make care services economically viable and provide a minimum level of income for the carer, there is often a minimum number of hours per care visit. This not only leads to wasted time, if the level of care needed does not reach the minimum threshold, it makes scheduling difficult and inflexible. By allowing carers hours to be made up of in-home and remote activities, it offers the possiblity to remove or reduce the minimum hours threshold. Blended care services need not be priced by the hour. Services such as environment and lifestyle monitoring, check-ins, social inclusion, managing health and wellness regimes, etc. deliver peace of mind and reassurance, lending itself to a value-based pricing model. Breaking the link between hours and pricing provides more flexibility in how staff are managed and compensated.
This model could help agencies stand out in a competitive job market.
Increased Productivity
A Blended care model allows agencies to provide care to more individuals and families with the staff they have available. Tasks such as checking in on a client or making sure they take medication can be done remotely via a video call and on-screen reminders. Carers can undertake a mix of in-home visits with remote care duties. By eliminating travel time for certain tasks and with the ability to fit remote care tasks in around in-home visits, carers can fill their working day more efficiently, potentially increasing productivity.
Improved productivity and value-based services could enable the care provider to offer more attractive levels of pay.
Improved Job Satisfaction
Adding more care options, monitoring, and video calling not only improves the level of care delivered for the client but can also make the job more fulfilling, enabling more interactions with the client. More flexible working conditions arising from a blended care model and potentially reduced travel time can make for a more satisfying and attractive career.
Conclusion
In conclusion, by adopting blended care solutions that combine traditional in-person caregiving with technology-enabled services, agencies have an opportunity to offer more flexible working conditions and improve job satisfaction for their staff.
If you’re ready to explore how blended home care can benefit your agency, consider integrating technology like the HomeSight system, which offers easy adoption and enhances personal care for your clients.
Take the first step towards a more efficient and satisfied workforce today. Contact us to learn more about the HomeSight system.
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