05/11/2023
Media Contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations and Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2021, there were 3.6 million jobs available for home health and personal care aides, in an industry the bureau projects will grow by 25% through 2031, a faster rate than the average for all occupations.
Home care workers and the hundreds of thousands of clients they serve are benefitting from new, free educational resources available from UMass Lowell and partners, including the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) and the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety.
“One goal of our research has been to help the general public, many of whom will engage home care at some point, understand the safety of home care aides and clients is closely linked and that the best, most effective practices improve safety conditions for both,” said Margaret Quinn, a public health professor emeritus who leads the UMass Lowell team. Other members of the university’s Safe Home Care Project include Pia Markkanen and Susan Sama, both research professors; John Lindberg, research occupational and environmental hygienist; Rebecca Gore, senior biostatistician; David Kriebel, public health professor emeritus; and Catherine Galligan, research project manager.
Together, the UMass Lowell team and collaborators produced materials based on the results of survey research conducted from 2019 through this year, which identified practices and opinions of industry professionals and evaluated home care environments. These resources, which are available on the UMass Lowell Safe Home Care and Hospitals website, aim to improve the well-being of clients and health aide workers, along with the physical safety of homes, where an increasing amount of care is provided. The resources include:
- The handbook, “Preparing your Home for Safe Home Care,” produced in partnership with the EOEA and many Safe Home Care Project’s research partners. The handbook is accompanied by a video, produced in partnership with the Betsy Lehman Center. Together, the handbook and video outline best practices for clients, often called “consumers” or simply “patients,” on how to create solid relationships with home care aides and prepare their homes for worker visits. Aides depicted in the video also discuss why they enjoy their work and what aspects of the home environment can be addressed to help them do the best job possible.
- The online training course “Motivational Interviewing to Improve Safety in Home Care,” for home care managers. The course introduces the concept of motivational interviewing, demonstrates how it is conducted and how it can be used to encourage clients to improve the physical safety of their residence and establish good communication when receiving care at home. Upon completion, the 50-minute course provides a certificate for one continuing education unit in professional development training for nurses.
- The training video “Practicing Occupational Safety and Health in Home Care.” Designed for home care agency managers and caregivers, worker unions and the employees they represent, this 20-minute course introduces concepts behind managing occupational safety and health and identifying ways to reduce or eliminate hazards in the home.
- The brochure “Safety Coaching for Home Care Clients: Preliminary Findings of the Safe Home Care Intervention Field Study,” which summarizes the results of the UMass Lowell research to develop and evaluate these materials.
The EOEA and Betsy Lehman Center collaborated with UMass Lowell on the content of the new resources and are helping to distribute them, ensuring the materials are provided to the people who need them most.
“The Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs is proud to partner with UMass Lowell to provide these materials to both home care aides and their consumers. Our goal is to enhance their experiences as we work toward improving health outcomes and the quality of life for older adults and adults living with disabilities across our Commonwealth,” said EOEA Secretary Elizabeth Chen.
Other partners in the effort include 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East, the Home Care Aide Council, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts and several home care agencies, aides and clients.
“Home care is an important part of the Massachusetts continuum of care,” said Barbara Fain, executive director of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety. “We are proud to be involved in this partnership to improve safety for the many thousands who rely on home care, as well as the aides who provide these vital services.”
Funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (via Award No. R01OH008229), the project is the latest initiative of UMass Lowell’s Safe Home Care and Sustainable Hospitals Program.