Are We Headed For A Perfect Storm In Homecare?

I participated in a webinar entitled Aging at Home: Is It An Affordable Option hosted by the Empire Club. The panelists were all experts within the aging field and discussed the current environment and readiness of both Canadians and the homecare support systems to support them in their desire to age within their own homes (also often referred to as aging in place).

The session kicked off with the confirmation that Canadians definitely want to age in their own homes. It was shared that research found that the percentage of older people interested in doing this ranged from 91% to as high as 97%.

This webinar was filled with valuable information but there was one particular comment made by Dr. Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, Director of Financial Security Research National Institute on Ageing that really stood out for me.

When asked what are some of the obstacles that people may face in being able to successfully age in their own homes, she stated that she believes that the reality is that Canadians are facing a perfect storm in our ability to actually realize this.

She went further on to explain that given the trend of reduced workplace pension plans combined with historically low interest rates will result in people having a reduced retirement income. But at the same time the price tag for retirement is actually going up.

As well, people are living longer along with family size decreasing and historically adult children helped care for their aging parents so they could stay within their homes. But without the availability of family support, people will need to finance not only a longer retirement but also potentially higher support expenses.

Add all of this together with the current underfunded and problematic homecare support system and we’re just set to experience some significant problems.

In this session, the panel also identified another major problem. The availability of homecare workers.

As reported by the CBC, Sue Vanderbent, the CEO of Home Care Ontario, which represents more than 70 organizations, says all organizations are struggling with staff leaving. She also shared that 40% of referrals are being left unfilled and that home-care personal support workers generally make $4 an hour less than those working in nursing homes or hospitals.

This is not a pretty picture now and has a very high probability of getting worse in the future. We have yet to experience the very large baby boomer demographic entering into this space yet.

What is also interesting is that the baby boomers are in denial that they are aging and recognizing that they may need support in the future. As a result there is not much pressure or demand on the government and homecare industry to get prepared for their impending needs.

The other surprising thing that many people are likely not aware of is that homecare support is not publicly funded.

According to Aging.com, the average cost for homecare is $4000 per month. They went further on to explain that this cost can vary greatly depending on the number of hours of support needed.

But still if you’re expecting to have this cost covered, you are likely in for a very rude awakening. And if you can’t support yourself, you could end up in a publicly funded care home (and sadly COVID highlighted some of the issues with these facilities).

Even if someone does have adult children to help support them, this doesn’t come without a cost. According to the AARP;

“In 2017, about 41 million family caregivers in the United States provided an estimated 34 billion hours of care to an adult with limitations in daily activities. The estimated economic value of their unpaid contributions was approximately $470 billion.”

As well being a caregiver comes at a significant personal cost. It taps a person’s time, energy and emotions. It can cause a career interruption and even possibly job loss depending on the level of support necessary.

According to some caregiver burnout facts provided by Aging In Place, three quarters of the caregiving respondents found being a caregiver to be stressful and more than half found it to be overwhelming. Depression is also a significant concern that affects 20 to 40% of all caregivers.

A perfect storm is defined as; “a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors”. 

So, to summarize this situation, we have a large aging demographic with likely not enough retirement funds who will be living longer and wanting to stay living in their own homes. There will be a large demand for homecare support which based on current projections will likely not be available nor affordable.

Yup – to me that sounds like a perfect storm. A large wave of demand for services with very limited resources able to respond.

Now the big question is do we have any hope of preparing for this storm before it hits us?

Here is the taping of the webinar that inspired this article;