Home care aides (HCAs) provide housekeeping and personal care services to help older clients remain in the community. However, little is known about the health of HCAs, who themselves constitute an underserved population. The goal of this study was to investigate how HCAs’ work and life contexts manifest themselves in HCAs’ health as perceived by HCAs. Six focus groups were conducted with HCAs (N=45). Analysis revealed how HCAs’ work-and life-related stress accumulated over time and affected HCAs’ health and interaction with their older clients. Home care aides were interested in personal health promotion and client well-being. Home care aides may constitute an underused resource for the care of older adults with disabilities. Information about intricately intertwined work and life contexts should inform policymakers and home care providers in their efforts to improve the quality of publicly funded home care services.
While obesity impacts all ethnic groups in the United States, African Americans and Latinos are particularly at high risk for obesity. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the literature on evidence-based culturally competent strategies for addressing and preventing obesity and discuss roles for occupational therapists working with populations at risk for obesity in the school or therapeutic clinical environment. A review was conducted of over 80 research articles describing successful interventions conducted in schools and communities targeting African Americans and Latino children. Although unique single strategies are highlighted in this paper, obesity interventions are complex and involved a number of multilevel strategies. The results of the analysis of the literature are presented according to strategies that promote healthy eating, physical activity, and overall healthy lifestyles. Along with the cultural competent strategies, we recommend specific roles for occupational therapists in order to promote the implementation of each particular strategy. Lastly, implications for occupational therapy are discussed.
One factor contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic is easy access to foods with high fat content available in public schools. After several years of advocacy efforts conducted by a city-wide coalition, the public schools system in an urban Midwestern city introduced fresh salad bars for lunch in three schools. Researchers have argued, however, that the introduction of salad bars in schools, without nutrition education, is not enough to produce changes in eating patterns. In this study, researchers used a target and control school to evaluate the impact of a 5-month nutrition education program. The results indicated that once the nutrition education program was implemented, the number of children consuming salad entrees and salad items doubled and quadrupled respectively, and knowledge about fruits and vegetables increased. Implications for community researchers interested in addressing childhood obesity are discussed.
CNAs expressed a lack of work-related control in the advocate and overloaded worker roles, and satisfaction in the companion role. Adequate organizational resources can help CNAs gain more satisfaction and effectiveness in their work.
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