There’s No Place like Home: A Qualitative Study of the Working Conditions of Home Health Care Providers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chalupka S ; Davis, Letitia ; Galligan C ; Laramie A ; Markkanen, Pia ; Quinn M
• Description:
  Objective: Home health care (HHC) is one of the fastest growing US industries. Its working conditions have been challenging to evaluate, because the work environments are highly variable and geographically dispersed. This study aims to characterize qualitatively the work experience and hazards of HHC clinicians, with a focus on risk factors for bloodborne pathogen exposures. Methods: The researchers conducted five focus group discussions with HHC clinicians and ten in-depth interviews with HHC agency managers and trade union representatives in Massachusetts. Results: HHC clinicians face serious occupational hazards, including violence in neighborhoods and homes, lack of workstations, heavy patient lifting, improper disposal of dressings or sharp medical devices, and high productivity demands. Conclusions: The social context of the home-work environment challenges the implementation of preventive interventions to reduce occupational hazards in HHC. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Ergonomics Health Personnel Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Demographic-characteristics Health-care-personnel Health-surveys Occupational-health Psychological-stress Qualitative Analysis Safety-climate Worker-health
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  327-337
• Volume:
  49
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032006
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2007 Mar; 49(3):327-337
• Contact Point Address:
  Pia Markkanen, ScD, Department of Work Environment, Kitson 200, School of Health and Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854
• Email:
  Pia_Markkanen@uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts - Lowell
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20230831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8f033a72e27fdc265c056e40b6b7ecd0d26b23759b81f9de58bb8655b895ce5112415f054e1b6783418b52f6440b3e2cb82882fb6628866515790633b69bfc30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186100/cdc_186100_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 241.04 KB ]