Literature Review

A looming crisis: Millennials caring for aging parentsFalls Church News-Press, by Brian Reach; 1/11/24... Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, comprise roughly 73 million Americans. By 2030, all boomers, and over 70 million Americans in total, will be ages 65 and older. This represents an at least 25 percent increase in the number of senior citizens — in just over five years.

Top home care trends for 2024Home Health Care News, by Andrew Donlan; 1/9/24The rising costs of care in home care remain a trend in 2024. That one trend will also lead to others, however, such as increased M&A, adoption of future-facing technologies like AI, and further investment in tangential service lines and alternative payer sources.

Provider partnerships providing driving palliative care growth  Hospice News, by Holly Vossel; 1/8/24An increasingly diverse base of health care providers have taken an interest in the palliative care space, a trend that could be indicative of how strategic growth is taking shape in the field. ... More home health care, health systems, hospices and primary care providers have gained a foothold in the palliative care space, often through community-based collaborations.

Hospice and home health care in Estes Park: A 2024 updateEstes Park Trail Gazette, by Dawn Wilson; 1/5/24Estes Park Health Board of Directors and management made the difficult decision to eliminate in-home hospice and home health care services as part of a plan to bring the hospital into a financially secure position. Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, marked the last day that Estes Park Health provided these services.

After loved ones' long-awaited organ transplants, caregivers often find challenges are just beginningSTAT, by Annalisa Merelli; 1/4/24By the time his wife Glenda Daggert received a double organ transplant in 1999, Ira Copperman already had a lot of experience as a caregiver. ... After the transplants, Daggert had a new kidney and a new pancreas, and was no longer diabetic. Yet this was not the ending to all her health issues, nor to Copperman’s role as a caregiver. “Transplantation is not the end story. You don’t stop what you do as caregiver or care partners the day after a transplant,” said Copperman, who serves as vice president of the nonprofit Transplant Recipients International Organization. “It is a lifelong journey.”

Sleep pods, coffee bars, and coworking spaces: Hospital staff lounges get a makeoverHealthcare Brew, by Shannon Young; 12/7/23Health systems are looking at how they can better attract, retain, and support staff with respite spaces. Picture this: a large coworking environment with collaboration areas, cappuccino bars, and programmable spaces. No, it’s not a Silicon Valley startup, a student union, or even a swanky airport lounge. It’s the next generation of hospital employee break rooms. After years of optimizing hospital spaces to focus on the patient experience, more health systems are looking at how they can better attract, retain, and support staff, Mike Pukszta, codirector of CannonDesign’s global health practice, told Healthcare Brew.Editor's Note: Consider implications for today's hospice staffing. Office-based leaders, have you ever spent a day with a team member making visit after visit? While you want staff out in the field, do they have a home base where they can easily collaborate, eat, communicate with each other? Seek feedback and consider adjustments that can make a big difference in employee satisfaction and well-being.

Pennant and John Muir Health enter into a home health joint venture in the Bay Area, CaliforniaGlobe Newswire; 1/2/24The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), the parent company of the Pennant group of affiliated home health, hospice, home care and senior living companies, today announced that it has closed on a home health joint venture with John Muir Health, a leading nonprofit integrated health system that serves communities throughout San Francisco’s East Bay Region. ... "Muir Home Health will bring together the deep experience of one of the Bay Area’s premier health systems with Pennant’s deep experience in managing and supporting the delivery of life-changing home health services, ..." said Brent Guerisoli, Pennant's Chief Executive Officer.

We’re college students with ideas of how to promote senior living careers to a younger generation

‘Profound’ financial, workforce challenges persist for senior living providers as 2024 beginsMcKnights Senior Living, by Lois Bowers; 1/2/24Senior living operators will continue to face inflationary pressures and capital market challenges in 2024, but some effects may lessen before the year is out, according to industry experts.

Lawsuit—Minnesota’s free training hurt nursing assistant schoolsStar Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)December 26, 2023A group of nursing assistant training schools has sued Minnesota, saying their business has been undercut by the state’s free training program. With its no-cost training for would-be nursing assistants, Minnesota’s two-year-old Next Generation Nursing Assistant training program has been hailed as a solution to the state’s worsening health care labor shortage. But providers left on the outside of that program say they have struggled. 

Brookdale Sells 20% Stake in Hospice, Home Health JV with HCAHospice NewsDecember 27, 2023Brookdale Senior Living has sold its remaining 20% stake in its hospice, home health and therapy joint venture with HCA Healthcare for $27 million. The company did not name the buyer. The joint venture formed in 2021 when the senior housing operator sold an 80% stake in its health care services segment to HCA, a large hospital operator, in a $400 million transaction. 

The Top 10 Home Health Care News Stories Of 2023Home Health Care NewsDecember 20, 2023In the first year that truly felt “post-COVID,” home-based care providers did not see a shortage of challenges. Instead, in 2023, home health providers saw another year defined by payment struggles, with both the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Medicare Advantage plans.  ... Reflect back on this year in home-based care by revisiting 10 of HHCN’s most widely read stories.

Hospice, Home Health Providers ‘Squeezing Turnips’ Competing for Clinical StaffHospice NewsDecember 20, 2023Hospice and home health care providers’ recruitment and retention strategies have narrowed their focus on workers’ key priorities, with organizational culture among the heaviest hitters on their lists. Amid workforce shortages, hospice and home health providers are often at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with other health care organizations that can have greater financial resources, according to Bill English, president and CEO of Accurate Home Care.