Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment

Muramatsu, Naoko; Yin, Lijuan; Lin, Ting-Ti

doi:10.3390/ijerph14040384

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Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment

Naoko Muramatsu

^1,*,

Lijuan Yin

¹ and

Ting-Ti Lin

School of Public Health and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA

College of Nursing and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editors: Mary H. Palmer and Shawn Kneipp

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(4), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040384

Received: 1 February 2017 / Revised: 22 March 2017 / Accepted: 1 April 2017 / Published: 5 April 2017

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Women’s Health and the Work Environment)

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Abstract

Home care aides (HCAs), predominantly women, constitute one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States. HCAs work in clients’ homes that lack typical workplace resources and benefits. This mixed-methods study examined how HCAs’ work environment was transformed by a pilot workplace health promotion program that targeted clients as well as workers. The intervention started with training HCAs to deliver a gentle physical activity program to their older clients in a Medicaid-funded home care program. Older HCAs aged 50+ reported increased time doing the types of physical activity that they delivered to their clients (stretching or strengthening exercise) (p = 0.027). Almost all (98%) HCAs were satisfied with the program. These quantitative results were corroborated by qualitative data from open-ended survey questions and focus groups. HCAs described how they exercised with clients and how the psychosocial work environment changed with the program. Building physical activity into HCAs’ job is feasible and can effectively promote HCAs’ health, especially among older HCAs. View Full-Text

Keywords: workplace health; physical activity; health promotion; direct service workers; long-term services and supports; caregivers

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Muramatsu, N.; Yin, L.; Lin, T.-T. Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 384. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040384

AMA Style

Muramatsu N, Yin L, Lin T-T. Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017; 14(4):384. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040384

Chicago/Turabian Style

Muramatsu, Naoko, Lijuan Yin, and Ting-Ti Lin. 2017. "Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 4: 384. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040384

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Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment

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