Social Workers’ Attempts to Navigate Among the Elderly, Their Families, and Foreign Home Care Workers in the Haredi Community

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 617-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Freund ◽  
Tova Band-Winterstein
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Barriers And Challenges ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
Cultural Bridge ◽  
Home Care Workers

Background: The study’s aim is to examine social workers’ experience in facilitating the integration of foreign home care workers (FHCWs) into the ultraorthodox Jewish (UOJ) community for the purpose of treating older adults. Method: Using the qualitative-phenomenological approach, semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 social workers in daily contact with UOJ older adult clients in the process of integrating FHCWs. Results: Data analysis revealed three central themes—integrating FHCWs into the aging UOJ family: barriers and challenges in the interaction between the two worlds; “even the rabbi has a FHCW”: changing trends in caring for older adults; and the social worker as mediator and facilitator of a successful relationship. Discussion: Social workers play a central role, serving as a cultural bridge in the process of integrating FHCWs, as a way of addressing the needs of ultraorthodox elderly and their families, while also considering the needs of the foreign workers.

Becoming a Home Care Worker: Job-Seekers’ Push and Pull Factors

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Shinan-Altman ◽  
Varda Soskolne ◽  
Liat Ayalon
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Personal Relationship ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Pull Factors ◽  
Push And Pull Factors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Workers ◽  
Push And Pull

This study examined “push and pull” factors associated with the decision to become home care workers among job-seekers in Israel. Participants completed measures of ageism, anxiety about aging, attitudes toward the home care profession, and personal relationship with older adults. Of 1,492 participants, 32.0% accepted the offer to become home care workers and were no longer in the job market, 36.7% accepted the offer but worked in the past, and 31.2% refused the offer. Compared to participants currently employed, the odds of being employed in the past were higher for participants who were younger, with poorer health and higher ageism; the odds of refusal were higher for males, Arabs, younger participants, with more education, lower ageism, and fewer personal relationship with older adults. The findings have implications for practice with job-seekers and for retaining current home care workers in the field. This may assist in expanding the home care workforce.

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.

scholarly journals Filipino Home Care Workers: Invisible Frontline Workers in the COVID-19 Crisis in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110004
Author(s):  
Katherine Nasol ◽  
Valerie Francisco-Menchavez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Elder Care ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Home Care Workers

Filipino home care workers are at the frontlines of assisted living facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs), yet their work has largely been unseen. We attribute this invisibility to the existing elder care crisis in the United States, further exacerbated by COVID-19. Based on quantitative and qualitative data with Filipino workers before and during the COVID-19 crisis, we find that RCFEs have failed to comply with labor standards long before the pandemic where the lack of state regulation denied health and safety protections for home care workers. The racial inequities under COVID-19 via the neoliberal approach to the crisis puts home care workers at more risk. We come to this analysis through Critical Immigration Studies framing Filipino labor migration as it is produced by neoliberalism and Racial Capitalist constructs. Last, while the experiences of Filipino home care workers during the pandemic expose the elder care industry’s exploitation, we find that they are also creating strategies to take care of one another.

Embodying Inequality

2018 ◽  
pp. 126-150
Author(s):  
Elana D. Buch
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Care Practices ◽  
Home Care Workers ◽  
Embodied Care

This chapter analyzes the embodied care practices at the center of home care work. The chapter argues that these practices generate deep but fragile entanglements between the lives and bodies of older adults and those of their home care workers. These practices involve forms of empathy that blur the boundaries between older adults’ and home care workers’ bodies and their personhoods. I show how home care transforms seemingly straightforward tasks like cooking into moral practices that help older adults feel independent. Home care workers’ bodies become the ground upon which moral hierarchies between persons are built, experienced, and justified on a day-to-day basis. Daily home care practices generate ways of embodying social hierarchies and shape individual subjectivities, thereby making those hierarchies feel morally legitimate.

scholarly journals Home-Care Workers’ Representations of Their Role and Competences: A Diaphanous Profession

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diletta Gazzaroli ◽  
Chiara D’Angelo ◽  
Chiara Corvino
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Professional Profile ◽  
Home Care Workers ◽  
Very High

Because of the gradual aging of the population, hospital facilities for socio-sanitary care of the elderly are quite scarce relative to the very high number of elderly people present in the country. This has pushed a high number of families to privately hire home-care workers. The scientific literature gives a picture of the psycho-physical risks that this type of profession is exposed to; however, there is still a need for a more systemic reflection with regard to representations about their role and competences. The aim of the present study is to outline the representations of the role and the skills it requires from home-care workers’ point of view. We reconstructed how home-care workers perceive and define the profession, and understand the necessary skills required from their point of view. Our results show that the professional profile of home-care workers still remains poorly defined and that professionals themselves struggle to find value and recognition, and to articulate what the skill set they develop is formed of.

scholarly journals Family Caregiver Perspectives on Benefits and Challenges of Caring for Older Adults With Paid Caregivers

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482095955
Author(s):  
Amy L. Shaw ◽  
Catherine A. Riffin ◽  
Ariel Shalev ◽  
Harveen Kaur ◽  
Madeline R. Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
New York ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Right ◽  
Home Care Workers

Background: Many older adults receive help from both family caregivers and home care workers. We aimed to understand family caregivers’ perspectives on home care workers. Methods: This qualitative study took place at an academic medical center in New York, N.Y. We interviewed family caregivers of community-dwelling older adults about their experiences with home care workers. We analyzed transcripts thematically. Results: We interviewed 17 family caregivers and identified four major themes: (a) home care workers provide functional and emotional support; (b) home care is logistically challenging; (c) finding the right fit between home care workers, older adults, and families is essential; and (d) home care workers and family caregivers coordinate care well beyond the initiation of home care. Conclusion: Despite its logistical challenges, home care benefits patients and family caregivers. Given the growing prevalence of caregiving, clinicians and family caregivers might benefit from training and support about working with home care workers.

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