There are many challenges to providing ongoing patient care — shortages in staff and lack of holistic care among the greatest. However, the future of long-term care (LTC) has hope due to some emerging and continuing trends. Here’s how advancing long-term care software and shifting priorities are changing the LTC landscape.

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Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• Trends
  • Addressing Staff Shortage
  • Putting Technology To Work
  • Improving Employee Wellness
  • Introducing Physical Therapy for Patients
  • Starting Occupational Therapy
  • Providing Home-Based Care
• Next Steps

Key Takeaways

• 6-in-10 U.S. adults have a chronic illness, making long-term care vital for a majority of the population.
• The U.S. long-term care market size is expected to reach $779.4 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 5.97%.
• 86% of nursing homes and 77% of assisted living facilities have had worsening workforce conditions recently.
• Increased focus on employee wellness could help improve retention rates and address staff shortages.
• Embracing technology, such as smart beds, smart TVs and AI-powered monitoring devices, is a key trend emerging in the LTC space to improve patient outcomes.
• Physical therapy is vital to long-term care, especially for aging populations at increased risk for joint and spinal disk problems.
• Occupational therapy can transform practices for LTC patients of all demographics, providing cognitive, sensory and physical support.
• Home health use, while slightly in decline according to the latest CMS data, is an LTC offering you shouldn’t overlook.
• The U.S. home health care market could reach upwards of $254.4 billion by 2030.

Trends

Long-term care is vital for patients with chronic conditions. Whether for age-related illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s or other diseases like diabetes, many face a form of chronic illness throughout their lives.

According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPH), 6-in-10 U.S. adults have a chronic illness, and 4-in-10 have two or more.

With an aging baby boomer population and a persistent need for chronic care management, we expect to see some emerging and continuing long-term care trends.

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1. Addressing Staff Shortages

For decades, staff shortages have been a significant challenge in long-term care. With the number of residents increasing, the need for skilled nurses to provide efficient care is also on the up.

According to a Research and Markets report, the U.S. long-term care market size is expected to reach $779.4 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 5.97%.

While 6% growth isn’t massive, the numbers reflect how large the market already is. And without proper staffing, it’s being underutilized by health care providers and underserving patients.

For example, nursing homes and assisted living facilities have had major staffing problems. According to a 2021 American Health Care Association & National Center for Assisted Living survey, 86% of nursing homes and 77% saw worsening workforce conditions.

While the report is several years old, it shows how challenging staffing has been for LTC facilities in recent years.

It’s clear that something needs to change to address staff shortages. For starters, many facilities will likely look to retain their existing staff before turning their attention to new hires. Reevaluating benefits and salaries can go a long way in retaining existing staff.

Competitive benefits and salaries can go a long way in attracting new employees as well. But providers also need to look at their recruitment tactics. Proactively attracting top talent can make a difference in addressing long-term shortages rather than seeking a quick fix.

2. Improving Employee Wellness

Employee satisfaction and well-being are the backbone of a healthy work culture and staff retention. And with skilled labor needs, like nursing, it’s arguably more important to long-term care than other non-skilled industries.

While competitive salaries and benefits go a long way to address staff shortages, employee recognition is vital to fostering well-being.

Employee recognition programs provide an opportunity to acknowledge staff’s hard work regularly. And they can take many forms — meaning it doesn’t always have to be monetary.

Employee recognition awards can include staff parties for achieving milestones or individual incentives like extra time off.

Meeting with your employees to see what motivates them can provide great insights and ideas for recognition programs. And it has the added benefit of showing that you care about their wellness by opening up a dialogue.

We’ve seen it in many industries, health care or otherwise, and LTC certainly stands to benefit from increased attention to employee wellness.

If you don’t have a dedicated solution or module within your existing framework already, consider using HR software to support addressing staff shortages and improving employee wellness.

3. Putting Technology To Work

Healthcare systems haven’t exactly been early adopters of technology, historically. It’s partially why there are government mandates requiring interoperability and meaningful use.
However, that’s changing as facilities adopt more and more digital solutions to address challenges and improve care.

For example, some facilities have already adopted solutions like smart beds, smart TVs and AI-powered monitoring devices.

Smart beds have sensors that monitor patients’ heart rate and other vital signs while in LTC facilities. You can configure them to send automated alerts for unordinary vitals, so staff members can promptly check on patients.

Along with smart beds, hospitals can employ smart TVs for medical purposes. They let providers communicate with patients throughout the hospital using HIPAA-compliant videoconferencing software.

Smart TVs with videoconferencing also let hospital-bound patients communicate with family and loved ones during long stays.

Furthermore, AI is playing a role in developing the future of long-term care.

AI-powered monitoring devices can detect anomalies and make suggestions. While they’re not capable of making diagnoses yet, they can alert providers to certain measurements so they can better examine and diagnose conditions.

AI is one of our broader health care trends to look out for overall. We expect it to make waves all over the medical industry.

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4. Introducing Physical Therapy for Patients

Physical therapy in long-term care is a must, especially for aging populations. With an increased risk of joint and disc problems, such as arthritis and degenerative disk disease, respectively, physical therapy can help seniors prolong mobility.

According to a recent report by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, three in five adults, roughly 60%, ages 50-80 have arthritis.

As for degenerative disk disease, Mayo Clinic reports that nearly 20% of adults have some level of disk degeneration by age 65, and the percentage increases to 35% by 80.

The numbers don’t lie — joint and disk problems are fairly common among seniors, especially the older they get.

Physical therapy for arthritis can help long-term care patients in various ways, including:

• Improved and preserved mobility
• Restored joint use
• Increased strength and joint support
• Maintained fitness
• Reduced pain

Physical therapy for degenerative disk disease offers many of the same benefits by focusing on different exercises and affected areas.

You can even extend physical therapy to outpatient and virtual settings for long-term care patients living independently. For example, through telehealth physical therapy, you can instruct patients and monitor exercises from a distance.

Physical therapy isn’t the only therapy type trending in long-term care to look out for. Let’s talk about occupational therapy.

5. Starting Occupational Therapy

Another major challenge in long-term care, especially for seniors, is a lack of holistic coverage. One trend emerging to combat this and help chronic care patients with all aspects of life is occupational therapy.

Occupational therapists help with patients’ physical and cognitive health. Their main aim is to show patients how they can improve their skills to improve quality of life.

This type of therapy is useful for patients with cognitive and/or physical ailments, such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease, as well as those in stroke recovery.

Occupational therapists assist patients with tasks such as managing finances and becoming proficient in everyday tasks.

For example, an occupational therapist may help a patient manage their schedule (cognitive) or bathe (physical) — both of which are part of daily routines.

Occupational therapy also extends to long-term care needs outside of senior demographics to assist anyone with physical, sensory or cognitive needs.

6. Providing Home-Based Care

Home care, or home health, is another ongoing trend that’s playing a significant role in long-term care.

While the most recent data from CMS on Medicare home health agency use shows a slight decline in use and payments between 2016 and 2021, it’s still a multi-billion dollar industry. In 2021, Medicare paid out $16.8 billion for home health services. And that doesn’t account for private insurers.

In total, according to Grand View Research, the U.S. home health care market was valued at $142.9 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.48% between 2023 and 2030 — meaning it could reach around $254.4 billion.

One potential cause for the slight decline could be the growing use of telemedicine software and telehealth platforms.

For example, patients can check in with providers virtually for simple questions and routine follow-ups rather than scheduling an at-home visit. Whereas, when they need specific medical attention, treatments or medication delivery, they’d still opt for home care.

Whatever the case is, home health is something you can’t overlook for LTC care options.

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Next Steps

There’s an ongoing need for improved chronic care treatments and processes. These technological advancements and treatment changes could be vital to the future of long-term care.

If you’re in the market for long-term care software to help you keep up with these trends, check out our free comparison report. It aggregates reviews and ratings from previous long-term care software selection projects to provide you with an interactive comparison tool.

What trends do you expect to see in the long-term care industry? Let us know in the comments below!