Not enough people know about consumer direction, a policy approach allowing Medicaid recipients to pay family members to provide them with in-home care. Consumer-directed beneficiaries, or "independent providers," are growing in numbers, but not quickly enough. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Corrine Eldridge, President and CEO of the Center for Caregiver Advancement. They discuss what consumer direction offers, why independent providers need more government attention, and how ...
Jul 06, 2025•22 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Nursing assistants are the eyes and ears of nursing homes, where many people receive 24-hour skilled care when they can no longer support themselves. As the COVID-19 pandemic tragically reinforced, our society has neglected nursing homes and nursing assistants for decades. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Dr. Kezia Scales, Vice President of Research and Evaluation at PHI. They discuss nursing assistants' responsibilities and pressures, how quality care and jobs are linked, and t...
Jun 22, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Direct support professionals are vital to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), as well as their families. While these workers provide critical support, our country has a long way to go in ensuring they are respected and fully recognized. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Joseph Macbeth, CEO and President of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, about the purpose of direct support professionals, how to strengthen these jobs, and whe...
Jun 08, 2025•23 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Home care workers are a lifeline to millions of older adults and people with disabilities, ensuring they live safely in their homes. However, these workers struggle in substandard jobs, often exiting this field frustrated in search of better jobs and leaving critical jobs unfilled. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Helen Adeosun, CEO and Founder of CareAcademy. They discuss the needs of home care workers, how businesses can support this workforce to succeed on the job and beyond,...
May 25, 2025•23 min•Season 2Ep. 3
To stay emotionally and financially afloat, many parents rely on childcare workers. Unfortunately, most working families cannot cover the high costs of childcare. And because this workforce is undervalued, the chances of finding an affordable childcare worker are slim. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza talks to Julie Kashen, Director of Women's Economic Justice and a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation. They discuss the landscape of childcare workers, where policy has failed them, and ho...
May 11, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Direct care and childcare workers are the backbone of support for millions of older adults, people with disabilities, and young children, as well as their families. Despite their vital contributions, these essential workers are often undervalued, leading to unsustainable turnover rates. Without prompt intervention, the current challenges in care could quickly spiral into a major crisis. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Josephine Kalipeni, a longtime advocate for care workers and...
Apr 27, 2025•27 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In recent decades, legal cases have incrementally broadened services for older people and strengthened legal protections against age discrimination. Despite these advancements, o our country has a long way to go in extending legal rights to older individuals. In this episode of A QUESTION OF CARE™, Robert Espinoza is joined by Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director of Justice in Aging, a national organization that uses the power of law to fight poverty among older people. They discuss how the leg...
Jan 16, 2024•25 min•Ep. 10
Death and dying are difficult subjects for most of us. Yet how our country deals with these issues might inadvertently hurt how health professionals approach end-of-life care and serious illness, all of which incurs a significant cost. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Dr. Joseph Shega, Chief Medical Officer at VITAS Healthcare and Co-Managing Editor of Essential Practices in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. They touch on our country’s relationship with death and dying and how a ...
Jan 02, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 9
For generations, immigrants have contributed significantly to this country, including our health and long-term care sectors. Unfortunately, our divisive political climate prevents a constructive conversation about the potential of immigrant workers to support people with long-term care needs. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Ai-jen Poo, President at the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Executive Director at Caring Across Generations. They speak to the experiences of immigr...
Dec 12, 2023•22 min•Ep. 8
In 2023, an estimated 6.7 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's, which will likely double to 12.7 million by 2050. Yet our health and long-term care systems aren't prepared to support this population or their families, many of whom are strained financially and emotionally. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza is joined by expert guest Jason Resendez, President and CEO at the National Alliance for Caregiving. They speak about the latest trends in dementia, its impact on ...
Nov 27, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Home care workers are a lifeline to millions of older adults and people with disabilities. Unfortunately, many of these workers are walking away from this sector to pursue better-paying jobs. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to find and retain a highly qualified home care worker these days. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Dr. Madeline Sterling, a doctor, researcher, and professor at Weill Cornell Medicine. They dive into her studies on home care workers, what they reveal abo...
Nov 06, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Due to a lifetime of discrimination, millions of LGBTQ+ older adults struggle economically and face entrenched barriers in employment, housing, and healthcare. They also routinely encounter discrimination in long-term care environments, and the law rarely supports their urgent needs. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with Michael Adams, CEO at SAGE (Advocacy and Services for LGBTQ+ Elders). They discuss the unique challenges facing LGBTQ+ older people, Michael’s own experiences over t...
Oct 23, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Research shows that Black nursing home residents are more often physically restrained and hospitalized than their peers and are less likely to have their pain treated. Black and Latino people also make up a disproportionate number of cases and deaths from COVID-19. Why is that? In this episode, Robert Espinoza sits down with Dr. Ruqaiijah Yearby, a professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. They speak about systemic racism in long-term care, the unique challenges of Black o...
Oct 09, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Since its onset, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted nursing home residents, primarily because they live with the types of medical conditions that put them at risk of severe complications. But there are other important reasons that the nursing home sector remains vulnerable to health crises. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with David Grabowski, a professor at the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. They touch on the history of nursing homes, what COVID-1...
Sep 25, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Ageism affects all of us, and yet it is one of the least discussed issues of our time. It’s also expensive—one study found that ageism resulted in roughly 17 million cases of common health conditions, totaling $63 billion in one year. In this episode, host Robert Espinoza is joined by Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism and co-founder of the Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse. They dive into the definition of ageism, the ways in which it manifests in our c...
Sep 11, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
High-quality long-term care remains out of reach for millions of older adults in the U.S. Given this challenge, what should we know about our country's caregiving system to fix it once and for all? In this episode, host Robert Espinoza speaks with expert guest Howard Gleckman, Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute and a columnist at Forbes.com. They discuss the profound challenges facing older adults and why the U.S. caregiving system needs a complete transformation. This podcast is produced by R...
Sep 11, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1
How did one of the wealthiest countries in the world get to a point where it can’t support more than 54 million older adults and twice as many in a few decades? A Question of Care™ explores the many answers to this question with expert insights into our caregiving system and how to solve the growing crisis in care. This podcast is hosted by Robert Espinoza, a national expert and frequent speaker on aging, long-term care, and the workforce. Coming Fall 2023. Subscribe now wherever you get your po...
Mar 06, 2023•49 sec
