 Today, the baby boomers of our country make up almost one quarter of the population of the United States. The “baby boomer population” is the name given to the mass rise in birth rates that occurred post-World War II. This generation is the demographic group who was born between the years 1946 and 1964. Because they take up a large portion of our nation, they have had and will continue to have a significant impact on society and the way that our country works. As they continue to get older, many of these baby boomers have developed health problems as a result of aging. They have difficulty completing simple tasks by themselves and need help recovering from injury such as a fall or surgery. The increase in overall cost and pressure placed on hospitals and other healthcare systems is what has tremendously effected the healthcare system. As the population is continuing to age, the demand for trained health professionals is continuing to grow. The job of a physical therapist and geriatric physical therapist, is to help patients maintain or achieve their desired level of physical health by implementing exercises and activities that help the patient reach their highest level of physical fitness. The aging baby boomer population in America will contribute to the rise in the demand of physical therapy in the near future while also having a significant effect on the healthcare system.

Americans who are between the ages of 53 and 71 are mostly baby boomers. They include 81,462,074 of the entire 325,848,297 of U.S. citizens as of March 2017. Because they make up such a significant amount of the U.S. population, “their demographic makeup, health status and expectations impact America’s health care system by their different needs and expectations, prevalence of chronic diseases, and the more medical services and technologies that are becoming available” (When I’m 64…). Although developing chronic health problems does increase with age, usually the initial cause of these health issues begins earlier in life. This is mainly because of how unhealthy they are and continue to be. If a person is to “look at the current health status of people ages 50 to 64 and compare them to the same ages in 1999” (Kodjak) there is an eye opening difference in the amount of people who have diabetes and are claimed to be obese. The most important reason is because the majority of baby boomers live a rather sedentary lifestyle and have poor nutrition. An article written by Healthline discusses the reasoning for the sedentary lifestyle changes that have occurred within many American jobs. One of the most important being that “…many jobs require sedentary work, longer commuting, more television watching, est” (Jeste). The development of technology and better transportation has made life easier for this generation and in turn made them lazier. Health problems that have occurred because of lack of physical activity are completely preventable. Nutrition plays an important role in why this generation is so unhealthy. The obesity epidemic has been a problem in our country for a large amount of time and the baby boomers can be seen as the ones to blame. Obesity has had a major toll on the baby boomers and has caused detrimental health problems such as poor heart conditions and excessive body fat. As this generation grew older, nutrition and frequent physical activity was not discussed frequently or shown as important. This unhealthy lifestyle will begin to show that they are more likely to be admitted into a hospital or receive special treatment or medication. In an online video, a healthcare expert Bob Overholt states that “older America needs to take the right precautions in order to help future generations not have to deal with such a burden”. The predicted downward spiral in health care is mostly because of the poor health of the baby boomer population. With the right precautions and lifestyle changes, they can decrease their health risk and also help out future generations. There are other factors that are the reasoning for the dramatic spike in physical therapy demand. The “Baby Boomers are living longer than previous generations, and living longer increases the risk of mobility-related injuries and chronic disease” (Lyons). The career of physical therapy addresses those specific conditions and works to help patients recover and return to their normal lifestyle. 

The high demand for careers in physical therapy for the younger generations is due to the fact that the largest population in the country is ill and elderly. When students are pursuing a specific career, an important factor to consider in determining if that career is for them is to look at the job outlook. Job outlook is a forecast of the change in growth in a particular occupation over a set period of time. Geriatric physical therapy has always been a field in demand because elderly patients tend to heal more slowly than younger patients and also tend to need more tailored exercises to meet their aging bodies specific needs. “Aging is a fundamental process that affects all of our systems and tissues. The rate and magnitude of change in each system may differ person to person, but total body decline is an inevitable part of life for everyone” (Guccione). This is important today because the baby boomers are the largest aging population. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has proven there to be a job growth over the next ten years as they state is their annual report “Employment of physical therapists is projected to grow 34 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for physical therapy services will come from the aging baby boomers, who are staying active later in life.” The older generation is more likely to experience sudden injuries such as strokes and heart attacks that effect mobility in which require physical therapy for rehabilitation. As stated previously, the ‘boomer’ generation have had health problems that stem from poor nutrition and physical inactivity. “In addition, physical therapists will be needed to treat people with mobility issues stemming from chronic conditions, such as diabetes or obesity” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Physical therapy will be effected as the baby boomers age, but that is not always a bad thing.

However, the effects the baby boomers have on healthcare are not all negative. The recent advantages in technology and medicine do raise the cost. However, they may potentially decrease the amount of people dealing with chronic health problems. Ronald Lee and Jonathon Skinner conducted a study dealing with the expectations of America’s healthcare as the elderly population increases. They found that “disability and morbidity will continue to become more compressed, leading to healthier years later in life”. With an increase in the overall health of the elderly population, there will be a decrease in the number of health issues. However, in recent years, the healthcare prices have increased dramatically. With new advances in technology and medicine, the costs of certain treatments have gone through the roof. As Shelly Gigante states in her news article, “we’ve got higher technology costs, spending growth and a much larger number of people for whom spending will continue to grow”. Baby boomers may not be the only cause for the increase in demand for physical therapists. With high health care prices comes increased health insurance nationwide. This most likely means that the demand for physical therapists will continue to climb within the next 10-20 years. Even though the baby boomers may not be the only reason for the increasing demand in physical therapy, is it the most reasonable and has the most evidence behind it. Without patients seeking help in rehabilitation, there would be no purpose for the career of a physical therapists. The older generation will be important for the expansion of the career. 

Because of the sudden rise in demand, there will most likely need to be changes in our healthcare system that meet the needs of the baby boomers. Changes in the way healthcare is working can help to meet the long-term care that the upcoming elderly will need. More specifically, there will need to be focus on the financial and social service aspects of our system. One way to help with the financial issue is to “develop payment and insurance systems for long-term care that work better than existing ones” (Knickman and Snell). This can help patients pay easier for their treatments and rehabilitation services. In order to help will the projected social service burden in healthcare, they will need to “take advantage of advances in medicine and behavioral health to keep the elderly as healthy and active as possible” (Knickman and Snell). With these small changes, the elderly of America will not be seen as a problem we will have to overcome. 

Physical therapy has been an important component in the health care system for a long time. Rehabilitation helps a person restore normal function and reduce pain. Because the baby boomer generation is so large and continuing to age, they will contribute to the demand in the supply of physical therapists and have a significant effect on the healthcare system. However, some people may argue that the baby boomers will create a decrease in the overall cost of healthcare as time goes on. Instead, they will create a dramatic spike in healthcare because of how large the population is. In order for America’s healthcare system to be prepared for the aging baby boomers, there will need to be precautions made from the baby boomers along with the healthcare system.
