Page 13 - Healthcare News Mar/Apr 2021

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MARCH/APRIL 2021 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 13
AGING OF AMERICA CONT’D
Dr. Maura Brennan says the health- care system is struggling to meet demand for direct-care workers, and the situation might get worse.
system produces exactly the kinds of results it was designed to produce. If we don’t change the system, you get what you’ve got.”
Another issue that will have to addressed regards the number of specialists that will be needed to care for this larger generation of older residents, said Brennan, referring to geriatrics doctors, general nurse practitioners, social workers, pharma- cists, and more.
“As the number of older folks is increasing, the number of experts is not increas- ing, not one iota,” she told HCN. “And, in fact, in some fields, such as geriatric
“Get that stuff done now, while you’re still healthy and you have the energy and the mental capacity to deal with it, so your family doesn’t have to handle it in crisis mode a few
years down the line.”
medicine, the number of certified geriatricians has actually probably declined somewhat because we’re not replacing people who are retiring with equal numbers of new grads.”
The Shape of Things to Come
Flahive-Dickson agreed, noting that among the Boomers now in or approaching retirement are large numbers of healthcare workers. Replacing them and making the kinds of systemic changes Brennan mentioned will be just some of the many challenges facing the healthcare system moving forward.
Several of the others involve the growing trend of people wanting to age in place — and especially in their own home.
And this brings her back to COVID and what has been learned during the pandemic.
“More care was moving toward the home, basically as a result of general anxiety about facility care — about being in hospital, about being in a skilled nursing facil- ity,” she explained. “Because of this crisis, we’ve seen more people want to get their care in the home.”
And this is a trend she expects will continue into the future as more people from
Please see Boomers, page 39