New Reports Explore Global Expansion of Foreign-Born Aging Services Workforce

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Jodi Boyne

Three new reports explore the characteristics and migration routes of foreign-born workers and the benefits and challenges associated with an expanding foreign-born workforce in the field of aging services. 

Foreign-born nurses and personal care assistants make up an increasingly significant percentage of workers in our field. around the world. These immigrant/migrant workers, who come primarily from developing countries, bring myriad benefits to aging services organizations that employ them and the care recipients they serve, according to findings from a 2018 study by the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. 

Three new reports explore those benefits, in addition to identifying challenges associated with hiring foreign-born aging services workers, exploring strategies to address those challenges, and providing an overview of global migration patterns and policies. 

• Filling the Care Gap: Integrating Foreign-Born Nurses and Personal Care Assistants into the Field of Long-Term Services and Supports features a complete look at key study findings. 
• A Picture of Foreign-Born Workers in Long-Term Services and Supports, a research snapshot, examines the prevalence, characteristics, countries of origin, and migration routes of foreign-born LTSS workers. 
• Hiring and Integrating Foreign-Born Nurses and Personal Care Assistants in Long-Term Services and Supports, a second research snapshot, details the benefits, challenges, and promising strategies associated with recruiting and retaining foreign-born workers and integrating them into organizations. 

Increased life expectancies and the projected growth of the older population are key drivers for recent increases in the number of foreign-born LTSS workers worldwide, according to researchers. 

“The sheer number of workers needed to care for an aging population with increased chronic care needs makes it imperative that new sources of workers are found,” they write. “Most researchers predict that an expanded immigrant/migrant LTSS labor pool presents one solution to meeting future workforce needs.”