Work as a Root Cause of Home Health Workers’ Poor Health

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baron, Sherry L. ; Quinn, Margaret M. ; Tsui EK
• Description:
  In the December issue of AJPH, Sterling et al. report on data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System highlighting the physical and mental health burden borne by home health workers (HHWs), defined in their study as home health and personal care aides. They were able to accomplish this important work because information on industry and occupation was available for the subset of data they used. Their analysis showed that HHWs' levels of self-reported mental and physical ill health were higher than those of other aides and health care support workers who provide care in institutional settings. Creating options for elderly and disabled individuals to remain living independently at home is an important public health objective; the Sterling et al. findings and others call attention to the importance of creating good-quality jobs as a necessary component of good-quality in-home care. Aides in homes and institutions are essential workers and are predominantly female, low-wage immigrants and workers of color. Although the care tasks performed by aides in the two settings are similar, the social, economic, and environmental organization of home care differs substantially from institution-based care. To understand what drives greater ill health among HHWs, it is important to examine how work is organized in the home care industry and the risks that arise when the workplace is a private home. Unpacking "work" as a determinant of health is essential for the development of effective public health interventions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Home Care Services Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System BRFSS Health Care Personnel Home Health Care Job Stress Mental Health Part-time Workers Policy
• ISSN:
  0090-0036
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9-11
• Volume:
  112
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064520
• Citation:
  Am J Public Health 2022 Jan; 112(1):9-11
• Contact Point Address:
  Sherry L. Baron, MD, MPH, Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment, Remsen 311, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd, Queens, NY 11367-1597
• Email:
  sherry.baron@qc.cuny.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts - Lowell
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Public Health
• End Date:
  20230831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5d6f431527f4ddbd5fe467018058494ad265c73ef6dae41a87bd0dc343d2cd78600e9569bec172624fd652fd0dccf39fe2ef7cb747405a4dcc6d96509ff93c4d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222968/cdc_222968_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 626.41 KB ]