To help educate providers and other smart aging constituents on the array of relevant healthcare technology offerings currently available, Ziegler is publishing a series of whitepapers titled, “Understanding the Technology Ecosystem for Senior Living & Care.” Our first paper in this series – “Volume 1: An Industry Primer” – provided a high-level overview of key technology subsectors relevant to smart aging. This whitepaper – titled “Volume 2: An Overview of Workforce Solutions” – serves as the second release in our technology-related publications and focuses exclusively on solutions that address labor-related challenges in the smart aging sector.
Workforce challenges such as employee recruitment, retention, engagement and cost have plagued smart aging providers in recent years. However, given the labor shortages that the sector is facing, and the strain that COVID-19 has placed on provider workforces, addressing labor-related dilemmas has become the top priority for many senior living and care organizations. As such, we have written this whitepaper, which discusses key workforce-related trends impacting the smart aging sector, including industry-wide challenges to recruit and retain employees, the shifting demographics that will likely exacerbate labor challenges, and the potential consequences of labor challenges for smart aging providers. Additionally, this paper explains and presents our view of key smart aging workforce technology sub-sectors, and lists a number of companies who are providing relevant and/or leading technology solutions that aim to help solve workforce challenges. It is our hope that this document can help readers better understand the ecosystem of labor-focused technology solutions available to the smart aging community, and help providers explore the various ways workforce-centric technology can assist one’s staff and community.