The Silver Tsunami Is Reshaping Healthcare: How an Aging America Is Changing the Healthcare Workforce

America is getting older—and that demographic shift is poised to transform healthcare.

This isn't simply a story about more Americans reaching retirement age. An aging population changes what kinds of healthcare services are needed, where care is delivered, and which healthcare professionals will be needed to provide it.

For colleges and universities preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals, the implications are significant.

At Landmark University of Health Sciences, we believe understanding these demographic changes is essential to building educational pathways that prepare students for where healthcare is going—not simply where it has been.

And the latest federal workforce projections make the direction increasingly clear.

America Is Entering a Historic Demographic Shift

The scale of America's aging population is remarkable.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of Americans age 65 and older is projected to increase from 59.7 million in 2024 to 72.5 million in 2034.

The U.S. Census Bureau's projections similarly show a fundamental shift in the country's age structure. Under its latest main projection series, adults 65 and older are expected to outnumber children under 18.

But another statistic may be even more important for healthcare.

HRSA's workforce modeling projects that the U.S. population will increase by about 26.5 million people between 2023 and 2038. Nearly half of that population growth—12.7 million people—is expected to occur among Americans age 75 and older, representing a 52% increase in that age group.

That matters because healthcare utilization doesn't remain constant throughout life.

As people age, they are more likely to experience chronic disease, mobility limitations, rehabilitation needs, hearing and vision changes, respiratory conditions, and other health challenges requiring ongoing care.

So America's healthcare system isn't simply preparing for more people.

It's preparing for more people who are likely to need more healthcare.

The Healthcare Workforce Is Growing Because the Patient Population Is Changing

The connection between population aging and healthcare employment is already visible in federal workforce projections.

BLS's latest projections show healthcare support occupations growing 13.3% between 2025 and 2035, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations are projected to grow 8.0%. Together, those two groups are expected to account for almost one-third of all new jobs created in the United States through 2035.

Across healthcare occupations overall, BLS projects approximately 1.9 million openings every yearthrough 2035, including both newly created positions and openings created when workers permanently leave occupations.

Aging is not the only reason for that growth. Chronic disease, behavioral health needs, technology, changing models of care, and replacement needs all contribute.

But demographics are a major part of the story.

And nowhere is that more apparent than in long-term care.

Long-Term Care Could Be One of the Biggest Workforce Challenges

HRSA's projections for long-term services and supports (LTSS)provide a glimpse of what the healthcare system may face.

Long-term services and supports include healthcare and personal assistance for people who need help because of aging, disability, chronic illness, or functional limitations. That care can take place in nursing facilities and assisted living communities, but increasingly it also occurs in patients' homes and communities.

HRSA projects overall demand for LTSS workers to increase by approximately 40% between 2023 and 2038.

That's an increase from about 2.35 million full-time-equivalent healthcare professionals to 3.29 millionin only 15 years. HRSA specifically identifies population aging and increased longevity as forces behind that growth.

That means the healthcare workforce challenge of the future won't be solved by producing more physicians alone.

America will need a much broader healthcare team.

Nursing Will Feel the Pressure

Nurses will remain central to caring for an older population.

HRSA's newest national projections estimate that by 2038 the United States could face shortages of approximately 108,960 registered-nurse FTEs and 245,950 licensed practical-nurse FTEs. HRSA also projects a greater relative RN shortage in nonmetropolitan areas than metropolitan areas.

An aging population contributes to demand on both sides of the workforce equation.

Healthcare organizations need more professionals to care for older patients. At the same time, members of the healthcare workforce themselves age and eventually retire, creating replacement needs.

This is why simply maintaining today's number of graduates may not be enough. Healthcare education must help build the workforce that tomorrow's population will require.

Rehabilitation Professions Will Become Increasingly Important

Living longer doesn't necessarily mean living without physical limitations.

As Americans age, rehabilitation professionals will be increasingly important in helping people recover from injuries, manage chronic conditions, maintain independence, and continue performing everyday activities.

That's one reason professions such as physical therapy and occupational therapy—and the assistants who work alongside those professionals—deserve particular attention.

BLS identifies physical therapist assistants and occupational therapy assistants among the occupations expected to experience especially strong growth through 2035, linking broader healthcare demand in part to the aging population.

HRSA's long-term-care projections tell a similar story. Demand for physical therapist assistants specifically within LTSS settings is projected to grow approximately 30% between 2023 and 2038.

These professions illustrate an important change in how we should think about healthcare for an aging population.

Healthcare isn't only about treating disease.

Increasingly, it will also be about helping people maintain mobility, independence, function, and quality of life for as long as possible.

More Care Is Moving Into the Home

Another important consequence of population aging is where healthcare is being delivered.

Many older adults want to remain in their homes and communities rather than move into institutional settings.

That preference, combined with changes in healthcare delivery, is creating significant demand for home- and community-based care.

BLS projects home health and personal care aides to add approximately 739,800 jobs between 2024 and 2034—more jobs than any other occupation in those projections.

HRSA's LTSS projections likewise anticipate major increases in direct-care needs. By 2038, direct-care workers are projected to account for 66% of the LTSS workforce, with projected demand growth of 44% for nursing assistants, 38% for personal care aides, and 36% for home health aides within LTSS settings.

This suggests that one of the biggest transformations in healthcare may occur outside the hospital.

The future healthcare workforce will increasingly need to meet patients where they live.

An Aging Population Also Means More Demand for Specialized Care

The ripple effects extend beyond nursing and long-term care.

Older populations tend to require more rehabilitation, diagnostic services, chronic-disease management, respiratory care, vision and hearing services, medication management, and other forms of specialized care.

BLS specifically points to the growing older population as a factor behind increased demand for long-term care and therapy services. Its projections identify fast growth in industries such as offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists and audiologists, services for older adults and people with disabilities, home healthcare services, and continuing-care retirement and assisted-living communities.

Even occupations that aren't exclusively associated with older patients will feel the effects.

Medical assisting is one example. BLS projects 12% employment growth from 2024 to 2034, with approximately 112,300 openings annually, and explicitly identifies the expanding older population as a factor increasing demand for medical services and healthcare teams.

The result is a healthcare system that increasingly depends upon teams of professionals with different levels of education and complementary scopes of practice.

The Challenge Isn't Just Producing More Healthcare Workers

There is an important distinction between having more healthcare workers and having the right healthcare workforce.

If population aging increases demand for rehabilitation, long-term care, chronic-disease management, home health, diagnostics, and other services, educational institutions need to consider whether their programs are aligned with those needs.

That raises several important questions.

Are we educating enough professionals in occupations experiencing growing demand?

Can students enter those professions quickly enough to respond to workforce needs?

Are educational pathways affordable enough to attract the number of students required?

Can healthcare workers begin with one credential and continue advancing their education while employed?

And are programs preparing students for healthcare that increasingly occurs in outpatient, home, community, rehabilitation, and long-term-care settings—not only hospitals?

Those questions should influence how the next generation of healthcare programs is built.

This Is Why Allied Health Matters

When people hear the phrase "healthcare workforce shortage," the conversation often immediately turns to doctors and nurses.

Those professions are critical.

But America's demographic future also makes allied health professionals increasingly important.

Physical therapist assistants can help patients regain mobility. Occupational therapy assistants can help older adults preserve independence in everyday activities. Respiratory therapists can care for patients experiencing cardiopulmonary disease. Diagnostic professionals can help clinicians identify disease earlier. Medical assistants can help practices manage larger patient populations. Home health professionals can make it possible for more people to receive care without leaving their homes.

Healthcare increasingly works as a team.

And as America's patient population grows older, the healthcare team will need to grow with it.

Healthcare Education Has to Respond, Too

At Landmark University of Health Sciences, we see these projections as more than labor-market statistics.

They are a signal about what healthcare education needs to become.

If America will need substantially more healthcare professionals over the next decade and beyond, simply relying on traditional educational models may not be enough.

We should be asking how healthcare education can become more accessible, more affordable, more efficient, and more closely aligned with workforce demand—while maintaining the academic quality and professional standards necessary to prepare excellent healthcare professionals.

That can mean developing programs in high-need allied health fields.

It can mean designing clearer pathways from entry-level healthcare credentials into associate, bachelor's, and advanced degrees.

It can mean helping working healthcare professionals continue their education without unnecessarily leaving the workforce.

And it means looking carefully at federal workforce data when deciding which healthcare programs communities will need next.

A Demographic Challenge—and an Educational Opportunity

America's aging population presents a significant healthcare challenge.

But it also creates an opportunity to rethink how we prepare the people who will provide that care.

HRSA projects demand for long-term-services-and-support workers alone to increase approximately 40% by 2038. BLS expects healthcare occupations to generate approximately 1.9 million openings per year through 2035.

Behind those numbers are millions of patients.

Parents and grandparents who want to remain independent. People recovering from strokes or joint replacements. Patients managing chronic conditions. Families looking for help caring for loved ones. Rural communities that need access to qualified healthcare professionals.

Meeting their needs will require more than healthcare facilities.

It will require people.

And preparing those people will require colleges and universities willing to build educational pathways around the healthcare workforce America is actually going to need.

At Landmark University of Health Sciences, that's an opportunity we believe higher education should be preparing for now.

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