“Workforce issues are the most significant challenges facing the long-term care industry,” states the opening editorial of a new special issue of The Gerontologist titled “ Workforce Issues in Long-Term Care .”
The 17 articles contained within illustrate:
“Their rich and varied methodologies and perspectives also offer the field some glimpses of optimism that we can leverage diverse approaches to improve long-term care,” wrote Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Meeks, PhD, FGSA, and Editor: Social Media Howard B. Degenholtz, PhD, FGSA, in the editorial.
Overall, the collection addresses the long-term care workforce from the front line to the back office, from rigid hierarchies to flexible models that promote creativity.
“If the shared goal is that long-term care should provide both high-quality care and the opportunity for a good life, the resulting articles lay out many of the challenges faced by policymakers, practitioners, and providers,” Meeks and Degenholtz state. “At the same time, new models of care and new ways of thinking about and defining ‘work’ have perhaps moved us a few steps down the path. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the need to reinvest in the long-term care workforce, and we hope that this collection will provide positive guidance for future research and policy.”
The studies include:
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The Gerontologist is a peer-reviewed publication of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,500+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society .