Readers know that we advise getting a primary care doctor—and hanging on. The shortage will get worse before it can get better.

This story suggests it is past time to endear ourselves to a professional home care aide because, while there is not yet a shortage, these care-givers are aging as they also care for the aged.

The excerpt below quotes a study which says that 28% of home care aides were 55 or above. In the total work force, women represent 18%.

A friend, whose mother required around-the-clock assistance, had three women who could get her mother to do things she would not agree to do for anyone else.

“They were a godsend. She could not have lasted as long as she did without them.”

Baby boomers may find there are none to be found by the time they need these care-givers.

The New York Times

…”In an aging population, the elderly are increasingly being taken care of by the elderly. Professional caregivers — almost all of them women — are one of the fastest-growing segments of the American work force, and also one of the grayest.

“A recent study by PHI National, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of caregivers, found that in 2008, 28 percent of home care aides were over age 55, compared with 18 percent of women in the overall work force.

“The organization projects that from 2008 to 2018, the number of direct care workers, which includes those in nursing homes, will grow to 4.3 million from 3.2 million. The percentage of older caregivers is projected to grow to 30 percent from 22 percent.”

Source: New York Times, April 24, 2010