title: Building Health Promotion into the Job of Home Care Aides: Transformation of the Workplace Health Environment.
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.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. naoko@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. lyin4@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. tlin41@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Ting-Ti
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018576:Home Health Aides / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012931:Social Environment; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: caregivers; direct service workers; health promotion; long-term services and supports; physical activity; workplace health