Fears come true: the experiences of older care recipients and their family members of live-in foreign home care workers

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 779-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Ayalon
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Workers ◽  
Care Worker

ABSTRACTBackground: Foreign home care services provided to frail older adults by individuals from the developing world are a global phenomenon. This study evaluated the challenges associated with live-in foreign home care from the perspective of older care recipients and their family members.Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 family members and seven older care recipients. Interviews were analyzed thematically.Results: Three main themes were identified: (i) the intense fears associated with witnessing the decline of the older care recipient and the subsequent employment of a foreign home care worker; (ii) actual negative experiences within this caregiving setting; and (iii) the ways in which family members and older care recipients coped with these challenging experiences.Conclusions: The key to this caregiving arrangement is the establishment of trust. Yet, many care recipients experienced violations of trust that resulted in abuse and neglect, which served to further intensify fears and concerns about this caregiving arrangement. The same coping methods used to maintain this arrangement, despite fears and concerns, are the ones responsible for maintaining the older care recipient in an abusive situation.

Family and family-like interactions in households with round-the-clock paid foreign carers in Israel

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIAT AYALON
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Family Members ◽  
System Of Care ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Care Givers ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Workers

ABSTRACTThis paper reports a study of family and family-like interactions and transfers, or exchanges of goods and resources, between paid, round-the-clock, Filipino home carers and those they care for in a sample of households in Israel. Qualitative interviews about their experiences and attitudes concerning the care role were conducted with 22 family members and 29 Filipino home-care workers. A thematic analysis of the interview data identified three major themes: the structure and internal dynamics of the adapted family or family-like system of care; the role of family members; and the role of Filipino home-care workers in the new system of care. Sons and daughters tended to appropriate the care-management positions and to reduce their social and emotional support for the care recipient. In contrast, spouse care-givers continued to provide some of the personal and emotional care even when a Filipino home-care worker was employed. Filipino home-care workers were made responsible for daily care and domestic routines and provided emotional and social care. It was found that family members do not relinquish their role as care-givers when round-the-clock foreign carers are on hand, but the nature of their role changes. The results suggest that foreign home-care workers' job description needs to be redefined to acknowledge the substantial social and emotional care that they provide.

scholarly journals Impacts of a Care Robotics Project on Finnish Home Care Workers’ Attitudes towards Robots

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7176
Author(s):  
Teemu Rantanen ◽  
Teppo Leppälahti ◽  
Jaakko Porokuokka ◽  
Sari Heikkinen
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Test Group ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Robots ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Workers

Technological advances in elderly care have been rapid, and the introduction of robots in care will be a topical issue in the near future. There has been little research into the possibility of influencing care workers’ attitudes towards robots by project activities, and how to make the change easier for work communities. This study focuses on a robotics project that took place in elderly and home care services in one municipality in Finland (total of 45 care workers). During the project, four robotics workshops and one extended pilot session were implemented. The study follows quasi-experimental settings, and it included two measurements (before and after project activities) and a control group, but no randomization. The data were collected by questionnaires and were analyzed statistically. The project under study brought about minor positive changes in home care workers’ attitudes towards the usefulness of care robots. In the final measurement, the difference between the test group and the control group was significant in the two dimensions of positive attitudes. The research supports the hypothesis that project activities can be used to influence home care workers’ attitudes towards robots. This can also facilitate the introduction of care robots in home care services. However, the construction of a technology-positive care culture is a long-term process, which requires training and development, technological development and strong strategic management at various levels.

Work Postures When Assisting People at the Toilet

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Jenny Hjalmarson ◽  
Stefan Lundberg
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Ambulatory Care ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Worker ◽  
Home Care Workers ◽  
Care Worker

The aim of our study was to analyze home care workers’ movement patterns and back postures, relating them to risks while helping an ambulatory care recipient to and from the toilet in a homelike environment. We found that severe risks of unpredictable movements with exposed postures could explain many injuries. Because of high-risk injuries, we suggest decreasing the time when the care recipient stands and the home care worker helps with clothing and personal hygiene. We also suggest the development of support in front of the recipient to prevent her or him from falling forward.

Abuse is in the eyes of the beholder: using multiple perspectives to evaluate elder mistreatment under round-the-clock foreign home carers in Israel

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIAT AYALON
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Elder Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Abuse And Neglect ◽  
Home Care Workers

ABSTRACTThe overall goal of the study reported in this paper was to examine differences in the perceived occurrence of abuse and neglect as between older care recipients, their family carers, and foreign home-care workers in Israel. Overall, 148 matched family members and foreign home-care workers and 75 care recipients completed a survey of abuse and neglect. Significant discrepancies in their reports of neglect were found, with the foreign home-care workers more likely to identify neglect (66%) than the older adults (27.7%) or their family members (29.5%). Although the rates of reported abuse ranged between 16.4 and 20.7 per cent and the differences were not statistically significant, the different parties assigned the responsibility for the abuse to different perpetrators. The independent variables that significantly associated with abuse and neglect also varied by the three groups of participants. The findings suggest that even with round-the-clock home care, the basic needs of many older adults are not met, and that many experience substantial abuse. The study emphasises the subjective nature of abuse and neglect, and suggests that more education about what constitutes elder abuse and neglect may lead to more accurate and consistent reports across reporting sources. Incorporating data from the various stakeholders may enhance the early identification of elder abuse and neglect.

Weighing obligations to home care workers and Medicaid recipients

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-424
Author(s):  
Paul C Treacy ◽  
Douglas MacKay
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Certified Nursing Assistants ◽  
Department Of Labor ◽  
Home Health Aides ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Workers

In June 2016, a US Department of Labor rule extending minimum wage and overtime pay protections to home care workers such as certified nursing assistants and home health aides survived its final legal challenge and became effective. However, Medicaid officials in certain states reported that during the intervening decades when these protections were not in place, their states had developed a range of innovative services and programs providing home care to people with disabilities—services and programs that would be at risk if workers were newly owed minimum wage and overtime pay. In this article, we examine whether the Department of Labor was right to extend these wage protections to home care workers even at the risk of a reduction in these home care services to people with disabilities. We argue that it was right to do so. Home care workers are entitled to these protections, and, although it is permissible under certain conditions for government to infringe workers’ occupational rights and entitlements, these conditions are not satisfied in this case.

scholarly journals Working with colleagues and other professionals when caring for people with dementia at the end of life: home care workers’ experiences

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-583
Author(s):  
Jill Manthorpe ◽  
Tushna Vandrevala ◽  
Ruth Abrams ◽  
Kritika Samsi
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Care Services ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Informal Practices ◽  
Home Care Workers ◽  
Care Agency

Caring for people with dementia often necessitates inter-professional and inter-agency working but there is limited evidence of how home care staff work as a team and with professionals from different agencies. Through analysis of semi-structured interviews, we explored the experiences of home care workers (n = 30) and managers of home care services (n = 13) in England (2016‐17). Both groups sought to collaboratively establish formal and informal practices of teamwork. Beyond the home care agency, experiences of interacting with the wider health and care workforce differed. More explicit encouragement of support for home care workers is needed by other professionals and their employers.

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