Personal Care Aides: Evaluating Self-Care Needs and Workforce Shortages in Rural Communities
ANSWER
Previous research has shown a shortage of personal care aides who provide Medicaid home and community-based services. Still, there needs to be more detailed geographic data to identify areas of greatest need and assess the availability of personal care aides nationwide. We examined the potential need for personal care aide services among adults and the supply of aides in the United States using data from the American Community Survey and the Office of Management and Budget from 2013 to 2017. Personal Care Aides: Evaluating Self-Care Needs and Workforce Shortages in Rural Communities
The areas with the highest percentages of adults with self-care disabilities were mostly in the South, and the gap between potential need and aide supply was greatest in southern states. Within states, the more rural and most rural areas had fewer personal care aides per 1,000 adults with self-care disabilities than the least rural areas. Wage and benefit increases, improved training and career opportunities, greater flexibility in state Medicaid policies on paid family caregiving, incentives, and compensation for travel, and increased data collection and government tracking of workforce data could all contribute to an increase in the supply of personal care aides in rural America. Personal Care Aides: Evaluating Self-Care Needs and Workforce Shortages in Rural Communities