Evaluating the Efficacy of Low-Cost Patient Handling Interventions for Home Healthcare

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baluyut, Paula ; Sommerich, Carolyn M. ; Lavender, Steven A.
• Description:
  The need for home healthcare workers is growing. To retain current workers and attract new ones, quality of worklife must improve for these essential workers, including reducing exposure to risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal injuries. Providing home care often involves physically strenuous patient-handling activities. While assistive equipment is utilized in hospital and nursing care settings, it is less likely to be available in home settings. There is little research on use of assistive equipment in home settings. This study assessed biomechanical efficacy and usability of several "small aids" for that use case. Experienced home healthcare workers performed several patient-handling tasks in a simulated home environment, using standard methods and also several small aids. For certain tasks, results showed biomechanical benefits to a patient-worn vest with handles and a small transfer board, as well as positive usability. This information is being shared through various means to reach stakeholders to encourage adoption. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Home Care Services Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Patient Lifting; Patient Transfer Device; Musculoskeletal Disorder; Home Care; Occupational Health And Safety; Ergonomics Ergonomics; Home Health Care; Health Care Workers; Quality Of Work Life; QWL; Patient Handling; Biomechanics; Intervention Effectiveness;
• Source:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 69th Annual Meeting, October 13-17, 2025, Chicago, Illinois. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2025 Sep; 69(1):1441-1445
• ISSN:
  1071-1813
• Publisher:
  Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Chicago Region [OSHA] ; Ohio
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  69
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071641
• Contact Point Address:
  Carolyn M. Sommerich, Department of Integrated Systems Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1971 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210-1132, USA
• Email:
  Sommerich.1@osu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  Ohio State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20060701
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5f95b7962d06c3573f64563ca051835364e4bd8e5ef78e53f1aa0e089c30160a7ef86e04b13895b7b89ac7b4db24c72caac6f7c61468961e741bb1a6f5296ed6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/259414/cdc_259414_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 628.70 KB ]