An examination of violence and unsafe environmental factors reported by home care workers in Chicago

Home care assistant (HCA) is a generic term which identifies workers who typically assist elderly or disabled adults with daily living activities. HCAs frequently perform duties such as bathing, cleaning the homes, washing clothes, reminding clients to take their medicine, and shopping and cooking.

This presentation will describe the incidence of violence and working in stressful environments reported by 980 HCAs working for family members, non-family, or both categories in the Chicago area. Participants self-completed a survey in a group setting as part of an IRB-approved research protocol. Violence was measured by a question that asked if the HCAs had been scratched/punched/hit in past 12 months and unsafe environmental factors were measured by asking about various activities the HCAs witnessed while in the clients' homes.

Sixty-nine percent of the study participants were African-American, 92% were female, and the average age was 45.5 years old (S.D. 13.6). Forty-seven percent of the HCAs rated their health as very good to excellent. HCAs reported incidences of violence on purpose or by accident while caring for their clients at 7% and 8.7%, respectively. When asked about their work environments, 22% of HCAs reported they felt uncomfortable while visiting a client, 12.8% had been accused of wrongdoing by the client/family, and 8% cared for clients with a history of violence or assault.

Experiences with violence and poor environments described here combined with working alone in uncontrolled atmospheres in clients' homes may indicate the need to address violence in the home care sector.