Home Is Where Your Health Is: Home Health Aides [Infographic]

Lauren Sharsta http://www.accelerated-nursing.net 2m 501 #homehealth

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Home healthcare is a field that has been growing in popularity as an industry and with senior citizens. Home health aides provide anywhere from personal hygiene care to housekeeping and anything in between. In order to become a home health aide you must be at least 18 years of age and hold an HHA certificate, which training for will vary depending on the state you live in. The home health aide median salary is around $20,820 and is a $42.5 billion industry, which is still growing.

Looking into the future, it is expected that the job growth for home health aides will be rapidly increasing and will lead to a shortage as the Baby Boomer population (around 44.6 million people) grow into an older age. However at this current time, there are 1.5 million patients who require home healthcare who need an average of 315 days of service per patient and only 806,710 home healthcare workers that were reported in 2013, so as you can see we are already in a need of more home healthcare workers.

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Home Is Where Your Health Is: Home Health Aides

Home-administered healthcare is growing in popularity both among senior citizens and as an industry. Let’s take a look at home health aides, including some fast stats about the career and required training information.

Job Description

Home health aides provide personal hygiene care and housekeeping for in-home patients.

Other duties include: (1)

• Preparing and serving individual diets
• Toileting assistance
• Patient transfer and ambulation
• Providing skincare, particularly to bedridden patients
• Catheter and oxygen equipment handling/use
• Medication dispensing

Qualifications: Must be 18 years of age and hold a valid HHA certificate, which is earned through a training program. No college degree necessary.(1)

Training Requirements by State

120+ hours

• Alaska
• California
• Idaho
• Wisconsin
• Illinois
• Maine

76-119 hours

• Washington
• Montana
• Wyoming
• Kansas
• Maryland
• New Jersey
• Rhode Island
• New Hampshire
• Vermont
• Hawaii

75 hours

• Oregon
• Nevada
• Arizona
• Utah
• Colorado
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Oklahoma
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Louisiana
• Arkansas
• Missouri
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Alabama
• Georgia
• Florida
• South Carolina
• North Carolina
• Tennessee
• Kentucky
• Indiana
• Michigan
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Ohio
• Delaware
• Pennsylvania
• New York
• Connecticut
• Massachusetts

By the Numbers
$20,820

Median annual salary of a home health aide(3)
48%

Job growth outlook for 2012–2022, much faster than the average 11% (3)
91%

Percentage of employed home health aides who are female(2)
56%

Percentage of home health aides who work only part-time in the field(2)
58%

Percentage of home health aides who are educated at a high school level or less(2)
73%

Percentage of national home healthcare expenses that are paid by taxpayers. That makes it a $42.5 billion industry.(2)

Looking Toward the Future
The expected job growth for home health aides is high because there is and will continue to be a definite shortage as the Baby Boomer population grows older.

14.1%

Percentage of the U.S. population who are 65 older. That’s about 44.6 million people.(4)

1.5 million

Current number of patients who require home healthcare services(5)

315 days
Average length of service needed per patient(5)

806,710
Number of employed home healthcare workers in 2013(3)

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