5 Strategies for Supporting Senior Care Workers

The prevalence of cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases, as well as a considerable rise in the geriatric population, is increasing the demand for senior care services.

Working in this sector takes a special kind of person. Depending on the health of the individual receiving care, senior care roles can include everything from monitoring and administering medication, transporting elderly patients to medical appointments, preparing special meals, to bathing, and changing diapers.

The high turnover rate among U.S. elderly care workers is a growing cause for concern for providers of elderly care facilities. For employers, this instability is bad news for quality care, continuity, and morale.

In this article, we’ll consider some strategies for supporting senior care workers that employers in this sector can adopt to make their organizations more appealing to prospective job candidates.

Understanding the Problem

Providers of long-term senior care rely on healthcare workers and other support staff who are often the eyes, ears, and limbs of the people in their care. Given the high-stress levels that come with this kind of job, too often, elderly care workers end up feeling emotionally overwhelmed, physically fatigued, and mentally irritable.

In addition, many of these workers earn near-poverty-level wages. Just consider these figures:

• Home-care workers earn a median hourly wage of $16.12according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• A concerning 37% of direct care workers live in low-income households, and nearly half rely on public assistance to make ends meet.

The current staffing shortages also extend to nursing home roles. Nursing homes are losing nurses, dietary aides, and housekeepers who, in recent years, have been drawn to better-paying jobs at the likes of Amazon. This trend is continuing. Here’s why:

• In September 2024, Amazon announced an additional $1.50 per hour increase for hourly workers, bringing their average base wage to more than $22 per hour and average total compensation to more than $29 per hour when the value of their elected benefits—such as health care from the first day on the job—are included.
• This represented an increase of $3,000 a year on average for full-time employees who work a 40-hour week.

These job losses happen when the country already faces an elder caregiver shortage.

Some 10,000 people turn 65 every day, and birth rates continue to decline, but right now, there aren’t enough workers to fill the demand.

Senior patients, their families, and care institutions will face drastic consequences unless this trajectory can be stopped and reversed.

Addressing Burnout in Senior Care Workers

While a career in caregiving can be very rewarding, it also involves many stressors. If this stress is left unchecked, it can take a toll on employees’ health, relationships, and state of mind—eventually leading to burnout, a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. And when a caregiver gets to that point, both they and the person they’re caring for suffer. Common signs and symptoms of caregiver stress include:

• Anxiety, depression, and irritability.
• Feeling tired and run down.
• Overreacting to minor nuisances.
• New or worsening health problems.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Feeling resentful.
• Neglecting responsibilities.

It’s important that employers learn to recognize the signs of stress and burnout, so they can take immediate action to prevent things from becoming worse and start improving their caregivers’ well-being.

How to Attract and Retain Senior Care Workers

Given their limited budgets, the option of increasing salaries and offering comprehensive insurance and retirement benefits isn’t a feasible one for many employers in this sector. However, there are some creative and easy-to-implement tactics they can adopt to increase their employee value proposition.

Here are our top 5:

1. Prioritize Professional Development in Senior Care

Look for ways to create roadmaps for employee learning and development by partnering with local community colleges that offer senior care training programs, incentives, or worker loan forgiveness.

2. Offer Flexible Scheduling

Giving people more freedom and autonomy when scheduling their workday is an effective way to afford them a greater work-life balance. With an app such as that offered by Payactiv, senior care workers can view the company’s shift schedule online, which makes picking up or swapping shifts easy. This option also avoids the problem of having to pay staff overtime and/or employing agency workers during busy periods.

3. Invest in Financial Support Solutions for the Caregiving Workforce

Financial wellness programs include services that help address people’s immediate financial needs. They help employees to take steps toward long-term financial stability and growth through the provision of tools and coaching.

4. Offer On-demand Pay

On-demand pay models like Earned Wage Access (EWA) contribute to employees’ financial and mental health as they don’t have to resort to borrowing money from friends or family, payday loans, credit cards, or overdraft fees in between their regular paychecks. They can maintain their dignity, put food on their tables, pay for emergencies, and budget for the future.

5. Build a Culture of Engagement

Many senior care workers value an organization’s culture over a better salary. One way to build employee engagement is to invest in a workplace communication app. With this digital tool, you can ensure that everyone feels acknowledged and part of the team, irrespective of where they may work on any given day.

How Flexible Payment Options Enhance Work-Life Balance at Comfort Keepers®

“In today’s hyperactive labor market, adding the Payactiv well-being solution to our hiring and retention programs has helped us stand out from the crowd. Having access to their hard-earned wages makes a visible difference to our caregivers. More engagement, higher moral, positive attitudes-all present. The program also demonstrates the firm commitment to our company culture where the caregivers are our most precious resource.”

– Anthony Fiore, Owner & CEO, Comfort Keepers® Manassas

Read the full case study.

Supporting Your Senior Care Workforce: The Bottom Line

The US’s 65-and-over segment is expected to continue on an upward trajectory. This demographic is expected to make up 20.7% of the population by 2030, up from 18.6% in 2025. This means ensuring the nation’s senior care sector – and staff – are prepared is more crucial than ever.

Right now, the competition between senior care employers to attract the attention of scarce talent is intensifying.

If you’re an employer in this sector, we’d welcome the opportunity to explore how we can help you enhance your employee benefits package and senior care incentives with a few simple steps.

With Payactiv, you can help your senior care workers participate fully in work and life. Our all-in-one Livelihood benefits platform takes a holistic approach to improving financial wellness and increasing employee satisfaction. Our attractive, flexible workforce rewards and benefits cost nothing to your company but deliver immense value to your employees.

If you’re ready to increase your organization’s level of elder care support, get in touch with us.