Onether Lowery, 80, (standing) is a home health aide for Rosalie Lewis, 86. As a whole, the aides are largely female and far older than women in the general workforce.

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As America ages, more people are spending more years living with disabilities or chronic disease. That's creating a booming demand for home health workers. And as NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports, these aides, also, are getting older.

JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: In a Maryland neighborhood of red brick ramblers, Onether Lowery shows up for work.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCK ON DOOR)

ONETHER LOWERY: Good morning. How are you?

LUDDEN: Her client, 86-year-old Rosalie Lewis, is still in her bedroom.

LOWERY: Are you cold?

ROSALIE LEWIS: A little bit.

LOWERY: It's a beautiful day outside.

LEWIS: Is it?

LOWERY: Yeah.

LEWIS: It looks like it is.

LUDDEN: Lowery's been caring for Ms. Lewis for 13 years and the two have an easy relationship. Once Lewis is dressed, Lowery skillfully helps her into her electric wheelchair.

LOWERY: Be careful. Take your time.

LUDDEN: She holds her from the back and bends over, easing her down.

LOWERY: You want the foot rests up?

LUDDEN: It's an impressive feat. Ms. Lowery herself is 80.

LOWERY: My mother, she was 89 when she passed away. I took care of her and I just fell in love with older people. I get along with them very well.

LUDDEN: Lowery is proud of how she can patiently coax clients to eat, even when they don't feel like it. How she can sense what they need. She used to care for Ms. Lewis' sister as well. At one point, the sister needed extra help and Lowery says an agency sent younger caregivers.

LOWERY: Well, she would always tell me when they wasn't around that they didn't do anything, not unless she asked them to do it. But me, I see things and I do it.

LUDDEN: As a whole, home health aides are largely female and far older than women in the general workforce. The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute says more than a quarter of aides are 55 or older, a share expected to rise to a third by 2020.

MARLA LAHAT: A number of our clients will ask for a more mature worker.

LUDDEN: Mature meaning older, says Marla Lahat, who heads Home Care Partners in Washington, D.C. - the agency that employs Onether Lowery.

LAHAT: Sometimes they're a little bit afraid of the younger generation, and they know that a worker that's closer to their age is somebody that they feel more comfortable with and more trusting.

LUDDEN: And in an industry where turnover is high, it's older workers who tend to stay in the job.

QUEEN COOK: I like to work with the older people because they need you so much more.

LUDDEN: Queen Cook is 75 and has been a caregiver with Home Care Partners for nearly four decades. She says she's careful to listen to clients, not talk too much, to figure out how they're feeling.

COOK: I have a passion for what I do, and I've been doing it so long. So I pretty much know how to deal with personalities a little better than the younger generation would. That's the way I feel.

LUDDEN: As they age, some health aides do hit physical limits. Manager Lahat says she's happy to work around it, finding a client without too many stairs or who doesn't weigh too much, to cut down on heavy lifting. I ask Cook, does she have any aches or pains?

COOK: Oh, come on, we all have arthritis now. But you work with it. Get your omega 3. Take your exercise. And you're good to go.

LUDDEN: Back in Maryland, Onether Lowery makes Ms. Lewis the same breakfast she does every day - coffee, toast, a fruit cup and scrambled eggs. Lewis says it's wonderful that she and her caregiver are so close in age.

LEWIS: I feel like she's a member of the family. And she can still move around like she's 16 years old.

(LAUGHTER)

LUDDEN: But of course, she's not. Lowery says her grandkids have been after her to retire. Yet even at 80, she keeps putting in 40 or more hours a week.

LOWERY: I don't have anything to do at home. You know, I can't stand looking at the four walls.

LUDDEN: As long as she feels good, she says she'll keep taking care of others.

Jennifer Ludden, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.