New degree tackles shortage of elder-care workers

Colorado’s population is trending older. At the end of 2022, the state was second only to Alaska for the fastest growth of the 65-and-older demographic. By 2050, Colorado’s number of older adults is expected to more than double to 1.7 million.

Yet the state has an alarming shortage of caregivers for its aging citizenry. To help meet the growing demand, Metropolitan State University of Denver launched an online undergraduate degree in Aging Services Leadership this fall. The degree’s emphasis on direct-care expertise and business management provides students with an experience not otherwise found in the region or outside of graduate-level programs.

The strategic move also answers a critical workforce need, while appealing to a sense of shared humanity.

“Everyone has a right to a peaceful last season of their lives,” said Amy Dore, DHA, professor in MSU Denver’s Department of Health Professions.

“When you have (an aging population combined with a staffing exodus), who’s left to care for folks?”

The aging services infrastructure in the U.S. was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nationally, the long-term-care industry lost 307,000 jobs between February 2020 and last December, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Reverberations are still being felt today, with Colorado experiencing a record 13 nursing home closures in the past six months, Dore said.

Jackie Schwartz, a Public Health student at MSU Denver, is one of the people trying to stem the tide. She recently parlayed an internship into a full-time job with the Clermont Park Senior Living Community while still in school. As a life enrichment associate, she leads programming in physical, intellectual, spiritual and social activities, getting to know residents on a deeper level.

And though the opportunities in aging services are indeed plentiful and well-paying, it’s a profession powered by the heart.

“It’s a huge honor to spend someone’s final section of life with them and accompany them on that journey,” Schwartz said.