While the aging of America’s popula

While the aging of America’s population has been foreseen for decades, little has been done to prepare the health and long-term-care workforce for its arrival (Institute of Medicine, 2008). A number of efforts over the past few years, however, have helped to raise this issue to a priority level in both the policy and practice arenas. In 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) created a Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans to assess the projected future healthcare status and health-care services utilization of older Americans; explore the best use of the healthcare workforce to meet the needs of the elderly population, including the most promising models to ensure high-quality, cost-effective service delivery, as well as the roles and types of providers required to successfully implement these models; determine the types of education and training needed to deliver services to elders, and the financial and other incentives that will best facilitate recruitment and retention; and recommend policy solutions to these challenges (Institute of Medicine, 2008: 3).