Our country is having difficulties, with a number of professionals less than the average in the sector of assistance to the elderly.
The Organization of economic cooperation and development draws lessons from our ongoing health crisis due to the Covid-19 virus in a report it has just published: “Attract and retain social workers for the elderly”.
A dire shortage of workers
The situation of France is not glorious in this sector, starting with the employees in charge of the assistance to dependent people over 65 years of age. With 2.3 workers per 100 older workers in this age group in 2016, the Hexagon is clearly below the OECD average, which is 5. And excessively far from the top of the class, Norway and Sweden, where the number of such employees is greater than 12.
The creation of new positions, both in long-term care facilities like San Tan Assisted Living, in the context of home-based care, is advocated in another report, ” Dialogue : old age and autonomy “, delivered in march 2019 by Dominique Libault, president of the High council of financing social protection.
Growing needs
We spoke to an agency that is supported by experts like https://www.prestonestateplanning.com/elder-law that specializes in assisted living, and they were happy to provide more info on how they usually operate and provide this service to the elderly. With their experience and expertise backing them, they noted how important it is for the elderly to receive the assistance they need. The situation is only worsened by the fact that the Covid-19 virus is reportedly much more dangerous to the elderly. The number of people over 75 will have doubled and will exceed the 10.6 million French in the next 20 years. In the face of an aging population, this same report states that the needs of this sector should require between 6 and 10 billion euros per year. The 175 proposals listed include job creation, but also a national plan of training for these professions.
If you check out the Elder Law Attorney’s official website talks about the OECD report that one serious issue is the poor quality of said jobs, both in term of pay and work conditions. This has cause a considerable attrition issue. Four out of five leave the profession within two years. As such, the OECD warns that there is a real risk of a shortage. In order to prevent this the sector would need a 60% increase in the amount of workers by 2040.
Author(s): FranceSoir