Future of Home Health PT Lies in Recruitment
While the population of the United States continues to age rapidly, with the baby boomer generation reaching their 60s, 70s and 80s in large mass, the amount of students entering into home health physical therapy seems to be dropping.
This population of patients more than ever aims to remain independent and in their home environment as long as possible. Considering the cost of many long-term care institutions and its effect on the health care of these elderly, that seems like a wise economic decision when patients are able to sustain their home lives.
But the PT profession has been on the short end of encouraging new PT school graduates to consider home health. The key is better selling the idea that home health will be the right place at the right time when this large chunk of the U.S. population reaches the need for more home-based care. The profession needs to make the case to new PTs and PTAs that the rising costs of providing health care is shifting delivery from institutional to home settings. Physical therapists will have increasing opportunities to serve the aging population and community in the home health setting.
A session at PT 2009 in Baltimore next week, titled "What Every Student, Recently Graduated Physical Therapist and Physical Therapist Assistant Should Know," will provide an introduction to home health physical therapy targeting students, recent graduates, and academic clinical educators. Speaker David Wood Milroy Taylor, PT, DPT, GCS, will discuss the range of PT in home health and will dispel myths related to home health physical therapy. He will outline strategies for developing more student affiliations, hiring and mentoring of new or recent graduates.