USA: 25 Organisations Form Eldercare Workforce Alliance

. WASHINGTON, DC / Administration on Aging / February 2009 The Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) is a new coalition of 25 leading organizations representing older adults and the eldercare workforce, reports the Administration on Aging. The Alliance includes family caregivers, healthcare professionals, and direct-care workers that has joined together to address the critical shortage of healthcare providers and caregivers who are adequately prepared to meet the unique care needs of older adults. The Alliance was formed in direct response to a 2008 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report that concluded that America’s eldercare workforce is dangerously understaffed and unprepared to care for the rapidly growing number of older adults in the U.S. The Alliance is a Project of the Tides Center and the Tides Advocacy Fund and will be directed by Alice H. Hedt, formerly the Executive Director of the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR). The Alliance will be partnering with older adults and their family members as well as national organizations to work with the Administration and Congress to effect changes that improve healthcare and care for America’s elders. The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John A. Hartford Foundation provided funds for the development of the Alliance. For more information about the Eldercare Workforce Alliance, visit http://www.eldercareworkforce.org