Healthy Aging Requires a Healthy Home Care Workforce: The Occupational Safety and Health of Home Care Aides

Details

• Personal Author:
  Edwards MF ; Galligan CJ ; Lindberg JE ; Markkanen PK ; Quinn, Margaret M. ; Sama SR
• Description:
  Purpose of review: To identify important home care (HC) aide occupational safety and health (OSH) hazards and examine how addressing these can improve aide health and the delivery of HC services overall. Specifically, this review seeks to answer: Why is HC aide OSH important? What are the most significant OSH challenges? How can improving HC aide OSH also improve the safety and health of their clients? What implications do the findings have for future research? Recent findings: HC is one of the fastest growing US industries. Aides comprise its largest workforce and are increasingly needed to care for the rapidly aging population. There is an aide shortage due in part to instabilities in HC work organization and to serious job-specific hazards, resulting in aides losing work time. Recent social, economic, and technological factors are rapidly changing the nature of HC work, creating OSH hazards similar to those found in nursing homes. At the same time, aides are experiencing social and economic inequities that increase their vulnerability to OSH hazards. These hazards are also a burden on employers who are challenged to recruit, retain, and train aides. OSH injuries and illness interrupt the continuity of care delivery to clients. Many OSH hazards also put HC clients and families at risk. A new framework and methodologies are needed to assess aide and client safety together in order to guide future HC research, policies, and practices. Government, industry, and labor commitment is needed to fund and coordinate a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research program. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Behavior Economics Home Care Services Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Home Care Cross Sectional Studies Hazards Home Care Aides Home Health Aides Home Health Care Household Workers Job Analysis Occupational Safety And Health Patient Safety Sociology Work Environment Workers Worker Safety Workplace Studies

  More +
• ISSN:
  2196-5412
• 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:
  235-244
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062679
• Citation:
  Curr Environ Health Rep 2021 Sep; 8(3):235-244
• Contact Point Address:
  M. M. Quinn, Safe Home Care Project, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production and Department of Public Health, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 600 Suffolk Street, Suite 520, Lowell, MA 01854
• Email:
  Margaret_Quinn@uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Performing Organization:
  University of Massachusetts - Lowell
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  Current Environmental Health Reports
• End Date:
  20230831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4deae04161f61b0359deeef7e0bcd2274a48ffdcd614ff2187c9ce5b0a6a77a828ec80ca41beace826a772f2367ac4a23e7a2c2e8cc07fb49b9eb8bd83e6a3ec
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225877/cdc_225877_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 737.33 KB ]