Better Navigate Staffing Shortages in the Senior Living Market (Ebook)

If you’re a senior living community administrator struggling to establish operational consistency and success, the senior living experts at Net Heath have just released a new ebook geared toward overcoming one of today’s greatest challenges in healthcare operations: staffing.

Titled “5 Tips for Attracting & Retaining Healthcare Staff in Your Senior Living Community,” this ebook details how to draw top applicants to your assisted living facility and keep them there (and thriving) for the long term. 

Staffing Shortages Hit a Historic High

Nearly 334,000 physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, therapists and other medical professionals left the healthcare workforce in 2021,¹ straining an already overwhelmed healthcare system.

Of the staff members who left the workforce in 2021, more than 100,000 positions belonged to the senior living industry.²

Despite their best efforts, the senior living workforce reached the lowest employment levels since May 2015.³ As a result, 96% of senior living communities are struggling with staffing shortages, and another 61% are concerned limited staff might force them to close.⁴

Today, there is a shortage of nearly 500,000 senior caregivers.⁵

Senior Population Also Exploding

As employment levels plummet in senior care, the number of seniors who require care continues to climb. In fact, the most rapidly aging segment of the American population are seniors aged 85 and older.⁶

Let’s take a look at the timeline:

• Today, 55.7 million people — or 17% of Americans — are 65 and older.⁷ Every day, another 10,000 Americans will turn 65.⁸ Experts estimate that 70% of these Americans will need some form of long-term care in their lives, and another 50% will require high levels of care.⁹
• By 2030, senior Americans will make up 21% of the population. For the first time in American history, our nation’s population will include more seniors than children.¹⁰
• Fast forward to 2040, and 80.8 million people — or 1 in 4 Americans — are projected to be 65 and older and another 14.4 million will be 85 and older.¹¹
• By 2040, when the senior population reaches its peak, the United States will need more than 20 million new healthcare staff to care for our seniors.¹²

Navigate Concurrent Challenges

As the need for senior care continues its upward trajectory, the current and future senior living workforce is simply not keeping pace. To remain in business for the upcoming senior population, senior living communities must attract and retain reliable healthcare staff. 

However, with the entire senior living market competing for the same talent pool, it’s never been more important to attract applicants with something more than just the best financial offer. 

As neighboring senior living communities begin their recruitment initiatives, learn to gain the attention of top talent with your culture, employee recognition programs, and more.

You can find expert tips to navigate the staffing shortage in our free ebook, including: 

• Creating a progressive environment to captivate applicants.
• Implementing educational and promotional tracks to engage new hires.
• Developing a wellness program or specialty services that appeal to all staff.
• Streamlining internal operations to retain current staff members. 

Download “5 Tips for Attracting & Retaining Healthcare Staff in Your Senior Living Community” today to learn more.

REFERENCES: 
¹ APTQI, “New Report Shows Thousands of Physical Therapists Left the Workforce in 2021,” Nov. 28, 2022. 
^{2 – 12} Argentum, “The Value of Assisted Living for America,” March 2023.