ADRC of Brown County. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Wisconsin’s population is going to age drastically in the next 10 to 15 years as baby boomers continue to retire. According to a new report, is an impending crisis when it comes to housing the aging population.
By no fault of their own, the Baby Boomer population is going to cause a bit of housing crunch, says Forward Analytics, a Wisconsin-based research organization that provides state and local policymakers with nonpartisan analysis of issues affecting the state.
“The state, by 2030, would need around 32,000 additional assisted living and nursing home beds to accommodate the increase usage and increased population,” said Kevin Dospoy with Forward Analytics.
Along with those beds, there’s a need to staff those facilities too. Forward Analytics estimates another additional 9,900 CNAs, nurses and home health and personal care aides are going to be needed.
Dospoy said, “I think part of the solution, anyway, needs to be addressing the pipeline of those workers and that includes everything from training, schooling, certification to wages paid to specifically CNAs. CNAs the population has dropped in Wisconsin when we need it to drastically increase.”
Earlier this year, Governor Evers created a Task Force on Healthcare Workforce, which is trying to address the worker shortage.
But just like this impending crisis wasn’t caused overnight, it won’t be solved quickly either.
“It’s just a big cycle so how do we try to step in and narrow down those concerns,” said ADRC Specialist Robin Kuklinski.
She said the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Brown County is encouraging the aging population to start having conversations now, adding, “Talking to their family and kind of, if something happens what is the plan.”
Taking steps to make accessibility changes at home, in preparation of space in a facility maybe not being available, immediately. Kuklinski said, “Having a bathroom downstairs, having an extra bedroom downstairs, maybe putting grab bars in, being able to do some of those adaptions sooner rather than we’re in an emergency I can’t home until we have X, Y, Z done in place that would definitely be one way to do it.”
Advocating, educating and researching now is one of the best ways the aging population can plan for their future.
Comments