Relationships Between Elderly Care Recipients and Their Migrant Live-In Home Care Workers in Israel

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irit Porat ◽  
Esther Iecovich
Author(s):  
Teemu Rantanen ◽  
Teppo Leppälahti ◽  
Jaakko Porokuokka ◽  
Sari Heikkinen

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (8) ◽  
pp. 1624-1644 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIS BODIL KARLSSON ◽  
EVY GUNNARSSON

ABSTRACTOlder persons with alcohol problems have today become an all too common part of everyday elder care, but research in this area is still scarce. This article has a Swedish context with the aim of describing and analysing home care workers’ narratives about older people who can be characterised as heavy drinkers, i.e. people with severe alcohol problems who need considerable care for extended periods. Limited knowledge is available concerning this age group. This article therefore fills a knowledge gap about home care workers’ perspective about body work and the abject, and breaches the myth that older individuals should be able to drink as they prefer and/or notions of drinking alcohol as a last enjoyment in life. The care workers talked about how they got drawn into the daily lives of the care recipients and how they ended up in situations where they, on the one hand, removed the consequences of drinking, and on the other, felt that they sustained the drinking by cleaning out dirt and washing the care recipients’ bodies.


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIAT AYALON

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.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 779-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Ayalon

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Cyuan Wu ◽  
Mei-Chi Peng ◽  
Jui-Yuan Hsueh ◽  
Tung-Liang Chiang ◽  
Yu-Kang Tu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Objectives Taiwan implemented its first National 10-Year Long-Term Care Plan in 2008 and its second in 2017. Over the first 10 years, the number of home care workers grew too slowly to meet demand. To increase the home care workforce, the government introduced two new payment mechanisms in 2018. This study assesses these mechanisms’ impact on growth in numbers of home care workers and use of home care services in Taiwan. Research Design and Methods Data was collected from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (2014–2019) and the Division of Long-Term Care (2017–2019). Generalized estimating equations compared rates of growth in the number of home care, institutional care, and foreign care workers and the number of care recipients receiving care from each group before and after 2018. Results Before 2018, rates of growth in all three groups of care workers increased slowly. After 2018, the rate of growth for home care workers increased to 31.8% from 9%, while growth in the other two groups remained stable. While there was greater workforce growth among home care than institutional care workers post implementation of the payment mechanisms (p < .05), the number of home care recipients (p < .05) and monthly home care visits (p < .05) also increased. Discussion and Implications The new payment mechanisms improved home care workers’ autonomy and salaries and appear to have contributed to immediate increased recruitment and retention. Whether this increase continues over the long run will need to be determined.


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