"I'll fill in the gaps": perspectives of HHAs on promoting aging in place for older adults with low incomes.

Older adults with low incomes experience disproportionate rates of cognitive and functional impairment and an elevated risk of nursing home admission. Home health aides (HHAs) may have insight into how to optimize aging in place for this population, yet little is known about HHAs' perspectives on this topic. We conducted 6 focus groups with 21 English-speaking and 10 Spanish-speaking HHAs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis, and three themes emerged. First, HHAs described the uniqueness of their role within multidisciplinary care teams. Second, HHAs shared concrete interventions they employ to help their clients improve their function at home. Third, HHAs discussed barriers they face when helping clients age in place. Our findings suggest that HHAs have important insights into improving aging in place for older adults with low incomes and that their perspectives should be incorporated into care planning and intervention delivery.

Supporting an Invisible Workforce: The Case for the Creation of the Home Healthcare Workers Support Act.

This Article seeks to synthesize academic research on home healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how their workplace challenges were magnified. Crisis communication researchers note that a crisis provides both opportunities and threats for growth. This Article argues that many of the issues that have impacted home healthcare workers have always been present, but the pandemic allows policy makers the ability to see them clearly because the pandemic brought a spotlight to the issues that home healthcare workers face on a daily basis. Consequently, the author employed a narrative analysis of the literature concerning home healthcare workers during the pandemic to understand how the pandemic exacerbated structural issues that led to an increase in mental health difficulties for this population. By understanding how the pandemic exacerbated mental health issues, policy makers can craft solutions that can withstand the next public health crisis which will undoubtedly impact the most disenfranchised.

Home Health Aides' Increased Role in Supporting Older Veterans and Primary Healthcare Teams During COVID-19: a Qualitative Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Home health aides are important but often overlooked members of care teams, providing functional and emotional support to patients. These services became increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic as older adults faced disruptions in in-person medical services and family caregiving. Understanding how aides supported healthcare teams is important for informing emergency planning and better integrating home health services with primary care. OBJECTIVE: To describe aides' roles in supporting veterans and working with primary care teams during COVID-19 and identify COVID-related changes in tasks. DESIGN: Semi-structured interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Eight home health aides, 6 home health agency administrators, and 9 primary care team members (3 RNs, 3 social workers, 3 MDs) serving veterans at a large, urban, Veterans Affairs medical center. APPROACH: Combined deductive and inductive analysis to identify a priori concepts (aide roles; changes in tasks and new tasks during COVID-19) and emergent ideas. Aide, administrator, and provider interviews were analyzed separately and compared and contrasted to highlight emergent themes and divergent perspectives. KEY RESULTS: Participants reported an increase in the volume and intensity of tasks that aides performed during the pandemic, as well as the shifting of some tasks from the medical care team and family caregivers to the aide. Four main themes emerged around aides' roles in the care team during COVID-19: (1) aides as physically present "boots on the ground" during medical and caregiving disruptions, (2) aides as care coordination support, (3) aides as mental health support, and (4) intensification of aides' work. CONCLUSIONS: Home health aides played a central role in coordinating care during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing hands-on functional, medical, and emotional support. Integrating aides more formally into healthcare teams and expanding their scope of practice in times of crisis and beyond may improve care coordination for older veterans.

Understanding the Technological Landscape of Home Health Aides: Scoping Literature Review and a Landscape Analysis of Existing mHealth Apps.

BACKGROUND: Home health aides (HHAs) provide necessary hands-on care to older adults and those with chronic conditions in their homes. Despite their integral role, HHAs experience numerous challenges in their work, including their ability to communicate with other health care professionals about patient care while caring for patients and access to educational resources. Although technological interventions have the potential to address these challenges, little is known about the technological landscape and existing technology-based interventions designed for and used by this workforce. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a scoping review of the scientific literature to identify existing studies that have described, designed, deployed, or tested technology-based tools and apps intended for use by HHAs to care for patients at home. To complement our literature review, we conducted a landscape analysis of existing mobile apps intended for HHAs providing in-home care. METHODS: We searched the following databases from their inception to October 2020: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL (EBSCO). A total of 3 researchers screened the yield using prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, 4 researchers independently reviewed these articles, and a fifth researcher arbitrated when needed. Among studies that met the inclusion criteria, data were extracted and summarized narratively. An analysis of mobile health apps designed for HHAs was performed using a predefined set of terms to search Google Play and Apple App stores. Overall, 2 researchers independently screened the resulting apps, and those that met the inclusion criteria were categorized according to their intended purpose and functionality. RESULTS: Of the 8643 studies retrieved, 182 (2.11%) underwent full-text review, and 4.9% (9/182) met our inclusion criteria. Approximately half (4/9, 44%) of the studies were descriptive in nature, proposing technology-based systems (eg, web portals and dashboards) or prototypes without a technical or user-based evaluation of the technology. In most (7/9, 78%) papers, HHAs were just one of several users and not the sole or primary intended users of the technology. Our review of mobile apps yielded 166 Android and iOS apps, of which 48 (29%) met the inclusion criteria. These apps provided HHAs with one or more of the following functions: electronic visit verification (29/48, 60%), clocking in and out (23/48, 48%), documentation (22/48, 46%), task checklist (19/48, 40%), communication between HHA and agency (14/48, 29%), patient information (6/48, 13%), resources (5/48, 10%), and communication between HHA and patients (4/48, 8%). Of the 48 apps, 25 (52%) performed monitoring functions, 4 (8%) performed supporting functions, and 19 (40%) performed both. CONCLUSIONS: A limited number of studies and mobile apps have been designed to support HHAs in their work. Further research and rigorous evaluation of technology-based tools are needed to assess their impact on the work HHAs provide in patient's homes.

Home health aides' experiences of their occupational health: a qualitative meta-synthesis.

Home health aides (HHA) have high sickness absence while the need for home care services is rapidly growing. The aim of this study was to derive new conceptual understandings by identifying, describing and interpreting key concepts across qualitative studies on how HHA experience their occupational health related to their working conditions.A qualitative ethnographic meta-synthesis was used as a method to analyze 27 articles included from systematic searches in CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycINFO.HHA experience physical strenuous work task demands in combination with unfortunate organizational conditions in an uncontrolled and ever-changing psychosocial and physical working environment as the main obstacle to their occupational health, although many positive presence factors with opposite effects were reported.More research is needed to investigate whether physical demanding work tasks can have positive effects on HHA's occupational health by reorganizing their work while preserving patients' empowerment at their home.

Professional, friend or family?: How home care companies sell emotional care.

While there is a growing literature on home care workers, less is known about how home care companies market their services. Through a content analysis of the 19 largest U.S. home care and home health providers' websites, we examined how companies describe services, desired outcomes of care, and job responsibilities and qualifications. Companies actively market family-like relationships as central to "good care". However, companies' emphasis on unmeasurable skills such as compassion and warmth may also create exploitative work environments. Supporting "good care" requires improved data collection, industry oversight, and policy change to recognize socio-emotional care and protect a marginalized workforce.

"We Take Care of People; What Happens to Us Afterwards?": Home Health Aides and Bereavement Care in Hospice.

After a hospice patient dies, hospice providers can experience a variety of emotional responses. While work has been done on social workers' and nurses' reactions to patient death, home health aides (HHAs) have been overlooked. To address this gap, we conducted focus groups and individual qualitative interviews with 14 hospice HHAs. Questions covered HHAs' grief responses and how they coped with grief. We found a high burden of grief reactions; many HHAs often developed very close patient relationships. HHAs also noted that they often started working with new patients almost immediately after a death, leaving little time to process the loss. However, HHAs found support from other HHAs, their supervisors, as well as family, friends, and spiritual practices to be helpful in coping with their grief. Future work should enhance support to HHAs around patient loss; for example, grief support may be embedded into hospice team activities.

Home care aides' experiences of verbal abuse: a survey of characteristics and risk factors.

OBJECTIVE: Violence from care recipients and family members, including both verbal and physical abuse, is a serious occupational hazard for healthcare and social assistance workers. Most workplace violence studies in this sector focus on hospitals and other institutional settings. This study examined verbal abuse in a large home care (HC) aide population and evaluated risk factors. METHODS: We used questionnaire survey data collected as part of a larger mixed methods study of a range of working conditions among HC aides. This paper focuses on survey responses of HC aides (n=954) who reported on verbal abuse from non-family clients and their family members. Risk factors were identified in univariate and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Twenty-two per cent (n=206) of aides reported at least one incident of verbal abuse in the 12 months before the survey. Three factors were found to be important in multivariable models: clients with dementia (relative risk (RR) 1.38, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.78), homes with too little space for the aide to work (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.97) and predictable work hours (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.94); two additional factors were associated with verbal abuse, although not as strongly: having clients with limited mobility (RR 1.35, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.93) and an unclear plan for care delivery (RR 1.27, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.69). Aides reporting verbal abuse were 11 times as likely to also report physical abuse (RR 11.53; 95% CI 6.84 to 19.45). CONCLUSIONS: Verbal abuse is common among HC aides. These findings suggest specific changes in work organisation and training that may help reduce verbal abuse.

Immediate aftermath of a client's death: the experience of home health aides.

This study investigated Home Health Aides' (HHAs) experiences in the immediate aftermath of client death. Semi-structured in-person interviews with 80 HHAs explored how notification of death and reassignment to a new client were handled. Only 42.5% of HHAs were notified of the death; 40% had to notify the agency; 17.5% were not notified at all and had a negative experience. Reassignment preferences varied, but HHAs had a better experience when their preferences were taken into consideration. Study findings suggest that more mindful approaches to transitions following client death would be valued by HHAs and could improve their work experience.

Personal care assistants' experiences of caring for people on home mechanical ventilation.

AIM: The aim of this study was to describe personal care assistants' (PCA) experiences of working with a ventilator-assisted person at home. METHODS: Data were collected from fifteen audiotaped semistructured interviews with PCAs supporting a child or adult using home mechanical ventilation (HMV). Thirteen women and two men participated; their working experience with HMV users ranged from one to 17 years (median 6 years). Data were subjected to qualitative content analysis in an inductive and interpretive manner. FINDINGS: Five categories emerged from the data: Being part of a complex work situation; Taking on a multidimensional responsibility; Caring carried out in someone's home; Creating boundaries in an environment with indistinct limits; and Being close to another's body and soul. CONCLUSIONS: The participants felt very close to the person they worked with, both physically and emotionally. They had a great responsibility and therefore a commensurate need for support, guidance and a well-functioning organisation around the HMV user. There is international consensus that advanced home care will continue to expand and personal care assistance is key in this development. We suggest that one way to move forward for PCAs working with HMV users is to create multiprofessional teams led by a key-person who coordinates the individual needs. More research is needed within this area from a broad perspective including the HMV-assisted persons, relatives, personal care assistants and management organisations.

Mental and behavioral health conditions among older adults: implications for the home care workforce.

OBJECTIVES: The shift towards home and community-based care, coupled with the growing prevalence of mental and behavioral health conditions, increases the demand for skilled home care workers. However, little is known about the experiences of home care aides who provide care to clients with mental and behavioral health diagnoses. The purpose of this study was to identify challenges aides face in providing care to this particular group of clients, as well as the strategies and support they utilize to complete their job responsibilities. METHODS: Data from five focus groups with home care workers (N = 49) throughout Massachusetts were used to examine the experiences of home care workers providing services to adults with mental or behavioral health needs. A constant comparative method was used during analysis of the focus group transcripts. RESULTS: Aides described a lack of prior-knowledge of challenging client behaviors, leaving them unprepared to deal with disruptions to care delivery. Aides feel unsafe or unsure providing care to someone with complex needs, made worse by a perceived lack of training and support from the broader care team. Aides develop unique strategies for accomplishing their work. CONCLUSION: This analysis of the aide's perspective contributes valuable, and often unheard, insight to inform what we know about providing reliable, quality and safe home care to this growing group of vulnerable adults. Implications of this convergence are discussed relative to aides.

Supporting home health aides through a client's death: The role of supervisors and coworkers.

This study evaluated home health aides (HHAs) experiences related to the support they received around a client's death. 80 HHAs who had recently experienced a client death participated in semi-structured interviews. They were asked to what extent they felt support was available to them from their supervisor or coworker, whether they sought support, the type of support they sought, and how helpful it was. They were also asked what type of support they would like to receive. Findings showed that just over one third of the HHAs felt they could turn to their supervisors for support and one fifth could turn to their coworkers. Even fewer sought support. However, those who did receive support, found it to be extremely helpful, in particular when the support came from supervisors. Desired types of support were primarily related to having someone to talk to or check in with them, pointing to an important role of nursing supervisors in providing critical support to direct care staff.

Prevalence of 'being at risk of malnutrition' and associated factors in adult patients receiving nursing care at home in Belgium.

Malnutrition is a known problem in hospitals and nursing homes. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of being at risk of malnutrition in community living adults receiving homecare nursing and to determine factors independently associated with this risk of malnutrition. Furthermore, it also aimed to describe aspects of current nutritional nursing care. Patients (n = 100) are screened with the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool to evaluate their risk of malnutrition. A patient survey was used to analyse associated factors. In this population, 29% are at risk for malnutrition. Following a multivariate logistic regression analysis, 'loss of appetite' proved the most important factor. A survey for nurses (n = 61) revealed low awareness, poor knowledge, poor communication between stakeholders and a moderate approach of malnutrition. These findings should encourage homecare nurses to use a recommended screening tool for malnutrition and to actively observe and report loss of appetite to initiate the prescription of individual tailored interventions. Belgian homecare nurses' management does not yet fully comply with international recommendations. Additional training in nutritional nursing care and screening methods for malnutrition is needed. Systematic screening should be further developed and evaluated in this at-risk population.

Invisible no more: a scoping review of the health care aide workforce literature.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare aides (HCAs) are the primary caregivers for vulnerable older persons. They have many titles and are largely unregulated, which contributes to their relative invisibility. The objective of this scoping review was to evaluate the breadth and depth of the HCA workforce literature. METHODS: We conducted a search of seven online bibliographic databases. Studies were included if published since 1995 in English, peer-reviewed journals. Results were iteratively synthesized within and across the following five categories: education, supply, use, demand and injury and illness. RESULTS: Of 5,045 citations screened, 82 studies met inclusion criteria. Few examined HCA education; particularly trainee characteristics, program location, length and content. Results in supply indicated that the average HCA was female, 36-45 years and had an education level of high school or less. Home health HCAs were, on average, older and were more likely to be immigrants than those working in other settings. The review of studies exploring HCA use revealed that their role was unclear - variation in duties, level of autonomy and work setting make describing "the" role of an HCA near impossible. Projected increased demand for HCAs and high rates of turnover, both at the profession and facility-level, elicit predictions of future HCA shortages. Home health HCAs experienced comparatively lower job stability, earned less, worked the fewest hours and were less likely to have fringe benefits than HCAs employed in hospitals and nursing homes. The review of studies related to HCA illness and injury revealed that they were at comparatively higher risk of injury than registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest, most comprehensive scoping review of HCA workforce literature to date. Our results indicate that the HCA workforce is both invisible and ubiquitous; as long as this is the case, governments and healthcare organizations will be limited in their ability to develop and implement feasible, effective HCA workforce plans. The continued undervaluation of HCAs adversely impacts care providers, the institutions they work for and those who depend on their care. Future workforce planning and research necessitates national HCA registries, or at minimum, directories.

Palliative approach education for rural nurses and health-care workers: a mixed-method study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this mixed-method study was to evaluate the outcomes of an educational intervention in a palliative approach for rural nurses and health-care workers (HCWs) using a team-based method. METHODS: Pre- and post-test measures using the Palliative Care Nursing Self-Competence (PCSNC) scale and the Self-Perceived Palliative Care Knowledge instrument were used to evaluate learning outcomes. Participant post-test scores were also compared to normative provincial data. FINDINGS: At post-test, HCWs showed statistically significant improvements across 7 of 10 domains in self-perceived competence and 6 of 12 domains in self-perceived knowledge; all scores were equivalent to or better than provincial normative data. Nurses' self-perceived knowledge showed statistically significant improvements in 3 of 12 domains; all post-test scores were equivalent to provincial normative data. Qualitative data indicated improvements in familiarity with the resources available for palliative care and in communication among the nursing team. CONCLUSION: An educational intervention can improve the competence and knowledge of rural HCWs and nurses in a palliative approach.

Wages or Legitimacy? A Qualitative Analysis of Home Care Worker Perspectives in Choosing Work Settings.

Directly-Funded (DF) home care allows users to organize and purchase their own care services and is expanding globally. Little is known about the career pathways of home care workers. Our study asks, what experiences and factors do home care workers consider when choosing a work setting? And, specifically, what influences their decisions to work directly for their clients? Framed with Cranford's (2020) flexibility-security matrix for analyzing home care dynamics, we remotely interviewed 20 home care workers in two Canadian provinces. Three team members conducted axial coding and thematic analysis using Dedoose software. We identified personal and material factors at the intimate and labor market level that workers weigh when choosing whether to work for an agency or directly for a client. At the intimate level, workers value the flexibility, autonomy, and respect facilitated in care relations when working directly for a client. At the labor market level, agencies provide better job security and the benefit of supervisory support but lower wages. Additionally, as care work often serves as a stepping stone for immigration and citizenship agency positions are considered a more "legitimate" option than working directly for a client. Our study shows that workers directly employed by their clients enjoy more flexibility but lack security, whereas agency employed workers risk immediate reductions in working conditions in exchange for limited improvements in safety and supervision and, like other frontline care work, DF home care represents a key career pathway for immigrants with previous experience in health and social care settings.

Having a Say in Patient Care: Factors Associated with High and Low Voice among Home Care Workers.

OBJECTIVES: To identify factors associated with high and low "voice"-or level of input in patient care decisions-among home care workers (HCWs), an often marginalized workforce that provides care in the home to older adults and those with chronic conditions. DESIGN: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey assessing experiences of HCWs in caring for adults with heart failure. The survey measured HCWs' voice using a validated, 5-item instrument. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The survey was conducted virtually from June 2020 to July 2021 in partnership with the 1199 Service Employees International Union (1199SEIU) Training and Employment Funds, a union labor management fund. English- or Spanish-speaking HCWs employed by a certified or licensed home care agency in New York, NY, were eligible. METHODS: HCW voice was the main outcome of interest, which we assessed by tertiles (low, medium, and high, with medium as the referent group). Using multinominal logistic regression, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for the relationship between participant characteristics and low and high levels of voice. RESULTS: The 261 HCWs had a mean age of 48.4 years (SD 11.9), 96.6% were female, and 44.2% identified as Hispanic. A total of 38.7% had low voice, 37.9% had medium voice, and 23.4% had high voice. In the adjusted model, factors associated with low voice included Spanish as a primary language (OR 3.71, P = .001), depersonalization-related burnout (OR 1.14, P = .04), and knowing which doctor to call (OR 0.19, P < .001). Factors associated with high voice included Spanish as a primary language (OR 2.61, P = .04) and job satisfaction (OR 1.22, P = .001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Organizational factors such as team communication practices-including among non-English speakers-may play an important role in HCW voice. Improving HCW voice may help retain HCWs in the workforce, but future research is needed to evaluate this.

Leveraging home health aides to improve outcomes in heart failure: A pilot study protocol.

Heart failure (HF) affects six million people in the U.S., is associated with high morbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization.(1, 2) Despite a decade of innovation, the majority of interventions aimed at reducing hospitalization and readmissions in HF have not been successful.(3-7) One reason may be that most have overlooked the role of home health aides and attendants (HHAs), who are often highly involved in HF care.(8-13) Despite their contributions, studies have found that HHAs lack specific HF training and have difficulty reaching their nursing supervisors when they need urgent help with their patients. Here we describe the protocol for a pilot randomized control trial (pRCT) assessing a novel stakeholder-engaged intervention that provides HHAs with a) HF training (enhanced usual care arm) and b) HF training plus a mobile health application that allows them to chat with a nurse in real-time (intervention arm). In collaboration with the VNS Health of New York, NY, we will conduct a single-site parallel arm pRCT with 104 participants (HHAs) to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness (primary outcomes: HF knowledge; HF caregiving self-efficacy) of the intervention among HHAs caring for HF patients. We hypothesize that educating and better integrating HHAs into the care team can improve their ability to provide support for patients and outcomes for HF patients as well (exploratory outcomes include hospitalization, emergency department visits, and readmission). This study offers a novel and potentially scalable way to leverage the HHA workforce and improve the outcomes of the patients for whom they care. Clinical trial.gov registration: NCT04239911.

The role of ergonomic and psychosocial workplace factors in the reporting of back injuries among U.S. home health aides.

BACKGROUND: Due to the aging population and a shift to patient home care, home health aides (HHAs) are a fast-growing occupation. Since little is known about workplace risk factors for back injuries among HHAs, we examined the role of ergonomic and psychosocial factors in injury reporting among HHAs. METHODS: We used the 2007 U.S. National Home Health Aide Survey data (weighted n = 160,720) to predict the risk of back injuries by use of/need for ergonomic equipment and supervisor support with logistic regression, adjusted for socio-demographic variables. RESULTS: The annual prevalence of back injuries for U.S. HHAs was 5.2%. Injury risk was increased in HHAs reporting the need of additional ergonomic equipment in patient homes, and marginally associated with low reported supervisor support. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement of workplace ergonomic and psychosocial factors could be targeted as a strategy to decrease work-related injuries in HHAs.

Covid-19: Home Health Aides' Perceived Preparedness and Self-Reported Availability for Work: Six Month Survey Results.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic New York City home health aides continuously provided care, including to patients actively infected or recovering from COVID-19. Analyzing survey data from 1316 aides, we examined factors associated with perceptions of how well their employer prepared them for COVID-19 and their self-reported availability for work (did they "call out" more than usual). Organizational work environment and COVID-19-related supports were predominant predictors of self-reported perceptions of preparedness. Worker characteristics and COVID-19-related stressors were predominant predictors of self-reported availability. Mental distress, satisfaction with employer communications, and satisfaction with supervisor instructions were significantly associated with both outcomes. The study uniquely describes self-reported perceptions of preparedness and availability as two separate worker outcomes potentially modifiable by different interventions. Better public health emergency training and adequate protective equipment may increase aides' perceived preparedness; more household supports could facilitate their availability. More effective employer communications and mental health initiatives could potentially improve both outcomes. Industry collaboration and systemic changes in federal, state, and local policies should enhance intervention impacts.