The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calls for urgent intervention in the area of long-term care, noting that in order to respond to the aging of the population, workers in this sector must increase by around 30% in the next decade.
A report released this Tuesday underlines the “rapid aging of the population” in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and stresses that this situation will considerably increase the demand for workers in long-term care services. .
However, he recalls, “fewer and fewer workers may be available and willing to take on these jobs, as they are often poorly paid, performed in difficult working conditions, and generally unrecognized by society.”
To help solve the problem, the OECD advocates in the report for an increase in public investment and says that governments should lead the definition of quality standards in this area.
It also argues that paying higher long-term care wages in the public sector may force private providers of these services to raise wages as well.
In the report, the organization considers that collective bargaining in long-term care should be encouraged, as well as the training of these professionals, particularly those who provide home care.
A greater focus on geriatric care in nursing curricula, as well as the strengthening of preventive health policies, with public information campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles and rehabilitation policies to mitigate the growing demand for continuous care services are Other suggestions to deal with the problem.
“Technologies can help reduce health risks, mitigate physical and cognitive decline, and facilitate independent living,” the organization suggests.
The OECD recalls that the tributes paid during the pandemic to health workers, including those in continuous care, were very important, but must be followed by “concrete actions”.
These professionals “continue to work in difficult conditions, with low salaries and little social recognition, despite the applause from the balconies,” he recalls.
The document states that continuing care professionals are among the lowest paid, earning less than those with similar qualifications who work in the health sector.
As reasons for the unattractiveness of a career in long-term care, in addition to low pay, the OECD points to shift work, which is associated with “a wide range of health risks, including anxiety, ‘burnout’ and depression.” “. He adds that there are added factors that are becoming more common, such as aggressiveness.
Nearly two-thirds of long-term care workers are also exposed to physical hazards while “moving, transferring, and repositioning patients.”
To explain that, despite the high demand for personnel in continuous care and the insufficient supply, wages do not rise, the OECD points to the lack of collective bargaining in this area, justifying that these are “difficult to reach” workers due to unions. because “sometimes many do not work in the same physical place, but spread over several workplaces.”
Another important factor, he adds, is that some of the ongoing care is provided by informal caregivers.
Although the policies to be applied may differ from one country to another, depending on how the area of long-term care is organized, “everyone shares the need to reform policies (…) towards greater respect for the care profession” , adds the organization, stressing the need for sustainable financing of this sector.
Even before the pandemic, only half of people over 65 with severe limitations in activities of daily living received formal care in Europe and the difficulties have increased after covid-19, says the OECD, which concludes that “if continuing care is still a death”. Ultimately, staff shortages will continue and may reach socially unacceptable levels.
Source: TSF
