CW: Poverty
Home care turnover is at its highest level in five years, indicating a widespread retention crisis. According to the data in Activated Insights’ 2024 Benchmarking Report, the turnover rate in home healthcare has risen by more than 14% over the last two years, reaching 79.2%. Ineffectiveness in the recruitment process also played a role, with only 16.4% of home health and hospice nurses and 12.8% of home care applicants hired.
Due to a lack of staff, 63.3% of home healthcare providers turned away new clients in 2023. The denials put home healthcare providers in an awkward situation, given client turnover in this industry is 26.8%. “Retention begins the moment you post the job,” Activated Insights wrote in the report. “To attract and retain the right candidates, highlight what makes the home health care industry unique.”
According to Activated Insights having a strong employer brand, emphasizing benefits, allowing for career advancement, cultivating a healthy work environment , and providing ongoing training are all critical to attracting and retaining high quality employees. It was also discovered that home healthcare providers who paid their employees above the 75th percentile, had a 35.5% decrease in turnover.
Low wages are a national problem. The average hourly wage for all direct care workers in 2022 was just $15.43. Home healthcare workers made an average of $14.50 an hour.
In the lowest-paying states, which include Louisiana, West Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, direct care workers often earn less than $12 per hour. Even in the highest-paying states, which include Massachusetts, North Dakota, Alaska, Washington state, and Colorado, average hourly wages are less than $18.00 as of 2022.
Fast food workers often make more than direct care workers. In Washington State, direct support professionals are paid an average of $19.51 an hour. On the other hand, a new employee at Dick’s Drive In makes $20.00 an hour. Given the low wages, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that 46% of all direct care workers receive public benefits such as SNAP and Medicaid.
Activated Insights surveyed clients regarding the quality of their care. Clients considered their caregiver’s ability as the most important factor. Staff were most satisfied with the compatibility between clients and home healthcare employees . This strong client satisfaction could explain the 18% decrease in providers constantly declining cases, due to staffing difficulties.
I’ve experienced this shortage firsthand due to cerebral palsy. In my first three semesters of college, I had three different PCAs. The lack of dependable PCAs added to my stress. I didn’t want to be worried about getting to class on time or using the bathroom.
Turnover is a safety issue. People’s lives are at risk without proper care. We need to fix this crisis now because care can’t wait.
Sources:
Dennis, Ellen. “‘We’re Doing Our Best’: High Worker Turnover, Housing Shortage Plague Supported Living Communities in Washington.” The Spokesman-Review, Cowles Publishing Company, 20 Jan. 2024, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/21/placeholder-dsp-protest/.
Martin, Audrie. “Caregiver Turnover, Referral Rejections Continue to Increase in Home Care.” Home Health Care News, Aging Media Network, 15 Aug. 2024, homehealthcarenews.com/2024/08/caregiver-turnover-referral-rejections-continue-to-increase-in-home-care/.
PHI. “Workforce Data Center.” Last modified September 2023. https://phinational.org/policy-research/workforce-data-center/.