While home-based care is a space booming with opportunities and potential tailwinds, much of it remains theoretical for the time being.
Yes, more seniors are coming to be. And the vast majority want to remain at home as they age, according to a new study from Cross Country Workforce Solutions Group, which is a division of Cross Country Healthcare (Nasdaq: CCRN).
The most intriguing part of the study, however, was that 91% of the adults surveyed – aged anywhere from 50-79 – had not proactively researched the care they may need as they grew older. Over a third – 34% – had not even thought about their future care needs.
Plus, awareness of innovative programs such as Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and Living Independence for the Elderly (LIFE) was extremely low.
“I think it’s really important to just acquire knowledge and understand what people are thinking about their future health care needs,” Pamela Jung, WSG President at Cross Country Healthcare, told Home Health Care News. “Our population is aging rapidly, so I think that’s really critical. I think it’s important to really spread the word about PACE and other opportunities, so people know what they offer.”
Cross Country Healthcare is one of the country’s biggest employment agencies, specifically catering to the home health care and home care industries.
Jung’s segment specifically works with PACE, and believes in the power of the program to get more dual-eligible seniors home- and community-based care. While PACE is considered an innovative model by industry standards, it has yet to proliferate the way operators would like it to in the U.S.
“I think for PACE operators, it’s really critical to get the word out so that people understand what it is all about,” Jung said. “We really focus exclusively on PACE, and we know it inside and out. For instance, a lot of the private-pay companies right now are servicing PACE, but they’re not really as familiar with all the regulatory requirements they need to be.”
Only 9% of the seniors polled were actively considering their health care needs. For lower-income individuals, they are not doing so because they are just trying to make ends meet. For higher-income individuals, they are just generally not worried about their future health care plans.
“It was really shocking to me, as I reviewed all of the data, that our underserved communities are really not thinking about or planning for their future health care needs,” Jung said. “And high-net worth individuals are really less likely to be concerned about what their health care needs are going to be in the future. That really stood out for me.”
While 70% of respondents said their preference for care as they get older was to remain at home, 57% had not considered a budget for the support they may need.
Costs remain the most critical consideration for seniors, which is why home-based care entities and PACE operators not only need to do a better job of getting the word out, but also at explaining that at-home care can be the cheaper long-term option.
What seniors thought could benefit them the most were things such as transportation to appointments, medical care, shopping assistance, meal preparation and laundry services.
“I think really looking at an individual’s health care needs and centering it around the individual’s life, rather than trying to take somebody who has needs and shoving them into a program that really doesn’t apply to them, is the biggest thing we need to do moving forward,” Jung said. “Everything that you read points to seniors living longer, healthier, happier lives when they’re able to remain in the home.”
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