Environmental health and safety hazards experienced by home health care providers: a room-by-room analysis

Details

• Personal Author:
  Darragh A ; Lavender S ; Polivka BJ ; Sommerich C ; Stredney D ; Wills CE ; Darragh A ; Lavender S ; Polivka BJ ; Sommerich C ; Stredney D ; Wills CE
• Description:
  The number of personnel providing in-home health care services is increasing substantially. The unique configuration of environmental hazards in individual client homes has a significant impact on the safety and health of home health care providers (HHPs). This mixed-methods study used data from a standardized questionnaire, focus groups, and individual interviews to explore environmental health and safety hazards encountered by HHPs in client homes. The participant sample (N = 68) included nurses, aides, therapists, and owners/managers from a variety of geographic locations. The most often-reported hazards were trip/slip/lift hazards, biohazards, and hazards from poor air quality, allergens, pests and rodents, and fire and burns. Frequency of identified key hazards varied by room, that is, kitchen (e.g., throw rugs, water on floor), bathroom (e.g., tight spaces for client handling), bedroom (e.g., bed too low), living room (e.g., animal waste), and hallway (e.g., clutter). Findings indicate the need for broader training to enable HHPs to identify and address hazards they encounter in client homes [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Burns Environmental Health Fires Health Personnel Hypersensitivity Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Allergens Allergic-reactions Author Keywords: Health Surveillance Fire-hazards Health-care-personnel Indoor-environmental-quality Medical-personnel Nurses Nursing Occupational Hazards Occupational Health Occupational Safety Pests Questionnaires Research Statistical-analysis Surveillance Training Workforce

  More +
• ISSN:
  2165-0799
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Volume:
  63
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047547
• Citation:
  Workplace Health Saf 2015 Nov; 63(11):512-522
• Contact Point Address:
  Barbara J. Polivka, PhD, RN, University of Louisville School of Nursing, University of Louisville, 555 S. Floyd St., Louisville, KY 40202, USA
• Email:
  barbara.polivka@louisville.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance ; Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of Louisville
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20130901
• Source Full Name:
  Workplace Health & Safety
• End Date:
  20171231
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e709fe2494dc80e98efddc3bfebed873edce192be1bc60f5f56726e43fb0b22b7bb5cb93546f90fbbbfc43fde00132310e39927888450ee88ca9a7df7926ecdd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202572/cdc_202572_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 624.01 KB ]