Residential care workers and residents: the New Zealand story.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the nature and size of long-term residential care homes in New Zealand; funding of facilities; and the ethnic and gender composition of residents and residential care workers nationwide.


METHODS
A postal, fax, and email survey of all long-term residential care homes in New Zealand.


RESULTS
Completed surveys were received from an eligible 845 facilities (response rate: 55%). The majority of these (54%) facilities housed less than 30 residents. Of the 438 (94%) facilities completing the questions about residents' ethnicity, 432 (99%) housed residents from New Zealand European (Pakeha) descent, 156 (33%) housed at least 1 Maori resident, 71 (15%) at least 1 Pacific (Islands) resident, and 61 (13%) housed at least 1 Asian resident. Facilities employed a range of ethnically diverse staff, with 66% reporting Maori staff. Less than half of all facilities employed Pacific staff (43%) and Asian staff (33%). Registered nursing staff were mainly between 46 and 60 years (47%), and healthcare assistant staff were mostly between 25 and 45 years old (52%). Wide regional variation in the ethnic make up of staff was reported. About half of all staff were reported to have moved within the previous 2 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The age and turnover of the residential care workforce suggests the industry continues to be under threat from staffing shortages. While few ethnic minority residents live in long-term care facilities, staff come from diverse backgrounds, especially in certain regions.
Kiata
Liz
L
General Practice and Primary Health Care, School of Population Health Tamaki Campus, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. liz.kiata@auckland.ac.nz
Kerse
Ngaire
N
Dixon
Robyn
R
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006276:Health Facility Size / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012144:Respite Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution; D000078329:Workforce