Statistics on Home Health Care Growth

New jobs for health aides, such as caregivers, will outweigh other positions in the health field such as doctors or nurses according to Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Compared to other non-health related occupations, health related fields have seen a 12% increase since 2000, of which 48% came from health care support such as home health care aides.

As the aging population continues to increase, there will no doubt be more home health care aide positions available to be filled.

Encouraging Communication with Alzheimer's Patients

Caregivers need to understand how to listen to and communicate with their Alzheimer’s patients. This is essential for understanding their needs and developing a friendly relationship between caregiver and client. Make your caregivers aware of these simple steps.

• Be Patient. Alzheimer’s patients may have difficulty finding the right words to describe what they are thinking. They may stay silent when they are trying to organize the words in their head.
• Eliminate Distractions. The tv, phone, magazines, etc. may be inappropriate to use when conversing with your client. If your client is talking during a movie, turn the volume down. If you are on the phone, tell the person to hold for a couple of minutes.
• Agree to Disagree. Expect that the opinions, habits, and interests of your client will be vastly different from yourself.
• Be Reassuring. Alzheimer’s patients may be tempted to give up on communicating because of frustration or anxiety. Encourage your clients to speak their mind in their own words and that what they have to say is important to you.
• Be Positive. Remember to smile when you listen to your clients! Expand on positive statements that your clients bring up.
• Take Interest in Feelings. Emotions may be some of the easiest subjects for a client to express because they experience them daily. Highlight a good day or when you catch your client smiling or laughing.

7 Ways for Caregivers to Improve Senior Quality of Life (attached link)

This is a post that will help all caregivers build meaningful relationships with their clients.

Check it out

Newly Named Healthcare Faculty Regulation

The Healthcare Faculty Regulation (HFR), lead by division chief Doug Colburn, will be the new name for the former Georgia Dept. of Community Health as of the first of July. This will be a division of the Georgia Office of Regulatory Services.

The move was in response to Senate Bill 433, which has forced the Dept. of Human Resources to transfer responsibility for licensure and regulation of hospitals and other health related institutions.

HFR will enforce licensing and regulate nursing homes, home health agencies, private duty home care, personal care institutions, and personal care home employee record checks.

Home Care on top of the list of Top Twelve Jobs for growth in U.S.

A recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor reinforces our projection that home care related jobs will continue to be in great demand, and that recruiting and retention will be the major strategic issues facing home care executives who want to grow their businesses.

If you want to grow your business, you need to get better at recruiting and retention.

Here are the Top Twelve Jobs for Growth between 2004 and 2014 on the Labor Departments list:

1. Retail Sales - need 736,000 or 17.3% growth
2. Registered nurses - need 703,000 or 29.4% growth
3. College teachers - need 524,000 or 32.2% growth
4. Customer Service Representives - need 471,000 or 22.8% growth
5. Janitors - need 440,000 or 18.5% growth
6. Waiters and Waitresses - need 376,000 or 16.7% growth
7. Food Service Workers - need 367,000 or 17.1% growth
8. Home Health Aides - need 350,000 or 56% growth
9. Nursing aides, orderlies, attendants - need 325,000 or 22.3% growth
10. General and operations managers - need 308,000 or 17% growth
11. Personal and Home Care Aides - need 287,000 or 41% growth
12. Grade school teachers - need 265,000 or 41% growth

As you can see, the two fastest growing occupation by % are Home Health Aides at 56% and Personal and Home care aides at 41%.

For information on how Leading Home Care can help you develop your recruiting and retention plan, vist our web site.