Slips, Trips, and Falls Among Home Care Aides

Abstract

Objective:To address the gap of knowledge about slips, trips, and falls (STFs) among home care aides (HCAs) who work in clients’ homes.Methods:This mixed method study used survey and focus group data of HCAs in a Medicaid-funded homecare program.Results:STFs were common with over 12% of HCAs reporting occurrence in the previous 12 months, of whom 58% fell to the ground. Both survey and focus group data identified ice, clutter, workload, rushing and other hazards. Focus group data explained the reasons for not reporting STFs, even among those who sustained injury, and added HCAs’ voices to the understanding of causes, consequences and prevention strategies for STFs.Conclusions:Empowering HCAs with knowledge, training, and involvement may transform “near miss” STFs into opportunities to prevent STFs among care workers and their clients.

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

“…The researchers used different qualitative research methods in their studies. The majority of studies (N = 9) used focus group interviews as the only method [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Seven studies used face-to-face interviews [35][36][37][38][39][40][41], while five studies used telephone interviews [42][43][44][45][46].…”

“…The studies described patients' pets as unpredictable and dangerous distractions that created an unsafe or unhealthy working space [29,30,40,45,48,49]. Rugs, cords, loose stairs, medical equipment and furniture, clutter, dark lights, objects on the floor and slippery floors where described as reasons for potential musculoskeletal injuries from slips, trips and falls [31,32,40,45,48,49]. The informants also reported difficulties in the winter such as ice and snow, driving conditions, car accidents and falls outside of the home [34,45,48,49].…”

“…Stress in home care work created mental strain and lead to multitasking, lack of focus, rushing and moving too fast and increased the risk and fear of falling and injuries [28,31].…”

“…Home health aides indicated that excessive sick leave from others created strain and pressure [39] and required them to take on extra responsibilities, perform extra tasks beyond the work schedule and work unpaid hours to fill care gaps and to meet the client's needs [26,27,32]. The informants reported that they kept working despite health problems because they could not afford to be absent, even if working could lead to long-term health consequences as psychological stress and burnout [30,31].…”

“…Specifically, the aides became very attached to clients who were ill, sad or died [30,33,36,41,[43][44][45], and the strength of this bond could lead to increased physical injuries and psychosocial strain [48]. Several studies reported that clients' families could interrupt the work routine and be a source of psychosocial stress [30,31], and the informants described it as challenging to maintain boundaries related to assigned hours and job duties as their relationship with the client or the client's family became closer [36,48].…”