Results of the ProCare Phase I Study
Safe Resident Handling Program Produces High Return on Investment
The Safe Resident Handling Program (SRHP) resulted in substantial decreases in physical load on the back in nursing aides, overall, although this varied somewhat among centers in relation to organizational features such as communication among staff and equipment availability. In addition, the SRHP was followed by large reductions in costs of workers compensation claims and employee turnover, which produced a high return on investment from this program. Nursing home facilities that also offered employee health promotion activities had greater economic benefits. At the same time, we showed that MSD risk was higher among nursing home staff who had been physically assaulted at work by residents or their visitors.
Related CPH News and Views:
- Can economic stressors be reduced for nursing home workers? (pdf)
- Differences among nursing homes in the outcomes of a Safe Resident Handling Program
- Violence among health care workers (pdf)
Related CPH-NEW Publications:
- The impact of workplace factors on filing of workers' compensation claims among nursing home workers (2014) BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
- An economic analysis of a safe resident handling program in nursing homes (2013) American Journal of Industrial Medicine
- Differences among nursing homes in outcomes of a safe resident handling program (2013) Journal of Healthcare Risk Management
- A physical workload index to evaluate a safe resident handling program for clinical staff in nursing homes (2013) Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Job Stressors Associated with Poor Employee Health and Turnover:
Overweight, smoking, and lack of exercise in nursing home workers were strongly related to stressors such as high work demands, low job control, night work and work-family imbalance. These sources of job stress are sometimes viewed differently by staff and nursing home administrator. Job stress deserves attention as it predicts intention to leave the job, which is an important issue because turnover rates are so high in the nursing home workforce. (Turnover was an important cost item in the return-on-investment analyses.) While not as easily remedied as purchasing resident lifting devices, psychological stress can be reduced by improving the work climate and implementing participatory programs.
Working with multiple data sets from the same nursing home company, we are currently working on Phase II of the study.
Related CPH News and Views:
- How do working conditions affect personal health conditions like smoking, exercise, and being overweight? (pdf)
- Working conditions, employee mental health, and intention to leave the job (pdf)
- Participatory teams of workers can strengthen and broaden the scope of health promotion programs (pdf)
- The proof is in the process: participation as the cornerstone of a healthy workplace
Related CPH-NEW Publications:
- Contributing influences of work environment on sleep quantity and quality of nursing assistants in long-term care facilities: A cross-sectional study (2016) Geriatric Nursing
- Health behaviors and overweight in nursing home employees: Contributing of workplace stressors and implications for worksite health promotion (2015) The Scientific World Journal
- Musculoskeletal pain and reported workplace assault: A prospective study of clinical staff in nursing homes (2014) Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- Nursing assistants' dilemma: caregiver versus caretaker (2013) Hospital Topics
- Relationships among employees' working conditions, mental health, and intention to leave in nursing homes (2012) Journal of Applied Gerontology
- Work organization and health issues in long-term care centers (2011) Journal of Gerontological Nursing
- A conceptual framework for integrating workplace health promotion and occupational ergonomics programs (2009) Public Health Reports