Exploring the Role of Client Death Support in Home Care Workers’ Grief, Stress, and Job Satisfaction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Tsui EK
• Description:
  Home care aides perform work that is critical to the health of older adults and disabled individuals, but studies show that they experience multiple types of stress on the job. This study explored the interplay of the types and sources of social support that home care workers use to navigate work stress, including workplace- and union-based support. We also worked with home care industry partners in New York to reflect and take action on our findings. Initially, the study focused on a particular work stressor, client death. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, we expanded the project to include support for aides' mental health and well-being as well. We conducted multiple explorations of these topics, using interviews with aides, with home care agency staff, and with home care industry stakeholders, as well as home care agency data, to better understand what kinds of support aides use and need, and what kinds of support agencies grew to provide during the COVID-19 pandemic. These were some of our main findings: Home care aides rely heavily on personal sources of support when facing work stress, which may impact their personal social networks in a process we call social accommodation. We recommend further research to better understand this impact of work stress on aides' home communities, and stronger support for these communities. Home care aides may not be aware of or accept a client's end-of-life status, and they may avoid end-of-life care, with important implications for quality of care. These issues might be ameliorated through additional training and support, as well as improved information and communication systems. The longer an aide worked with a client before their death, the longer the period before the aide returned to work after the death. When an aide loses a client they have worked with for a longer time, they may need additional support services during their time away following a client's death. For home care industry stakeholders, the goal of supporting aides around client death and their mental health became more central between 2019 and 2022. Several stakeholders took a range of new actions to support aides, but leaders reported that these efforts were still limited due to ongoing funding constraints. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Health Personnel Home Care Services Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Health Care Workers Home Health Care Job Stress Mental Health Psychological Effects Return To Work
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-19
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069476
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, K01-OH-011645, 2023 Nov; :1-19
• Contact Point Address:
  Emma K. Tsui, PhD, MPH, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, 55 W 125th St, 7th Fl, New York, NY, 10027-4516
• Email:
  emma.tsui@sph.cuny.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20190901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20220831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:88d6aee3e4702f0f5334aa03c172b94045d7c8b7378a0867f243e42633d09951f6c4fd8d147fe1b8c9ef6f3751d8147288114496394c787de5b74f35dfb2eeb5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219228/cdc_219228_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.47 MB ]