TY - JOUR
T1 - “I Depend on Her for Everything”
T2 - A Retrospective Chart Review of Home Care Worker Service Disruptions for Homebound Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
AU - Xu, Emily L.
AU - Kim, Patricia S.
AU - Yee, Cynthia
AU - Zhang, Meng
AU - Reckrey, Jennifer M.
AU - Lubetsky, Sara
AU - Zhao, Duzhi
AU - Ornstein, Katherine A.
AU - Franzosa, Emily
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging [grant numbers R01-AG060967, 5T35AG067578].
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Home care workers played critical roles in meeting the complex medical and social needs of homebound adults during COVID-19, yet their contributions remain underappreciated. This study characterizes home care workers’ roles during COVID-19 and examines how home care disruptions impacted homebound individuals and caregivers. Using a qualitative analysis of electronic medical records among a randomly sampled subset of homebound patients in a home-based primary care practice, we found that home care workers were essential in meeting existing and new needs of homebound individuals. Insufficient home care worker services, including unstable schedules and inadequate hours of paid care, became particularly disruptive, leading to risks for patients and their caregivers. Given their integral role on care teams, home care workers must be a policy focus to prepare for emergent situations and ensure that homebound individuals have access to high quality, stable home care.
AB - Home care workers played critical roles in meeting the complex medical and social needs of homebound adults during COVID-19, yet their contributions remain underappreciated. This study characterizes home care workers’ roles during COVID-19 and examines how home care disruptions impacted homebound individuals and caregivers. Using a qualitative analysis of electronic medical records among a randomly sampled subset of homebound patients in a home-based primary care practice, we found that home care workers were essential in meeting existing and new needs of homebound individuals. Insufficient home care worker services, including unstable schedules and inadequate hours of paid care, became particularly disruptive, leading to risks for patients and their caregivers. Given their integral role on care teams, home care workers must be a policy focus to prepare for emergent situations and ensure that homebound individuals have access to high quality, stable home care.
KW - COVID-19
KW - caregiving
KW - home care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141012374&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/07334648221135584
DO - 10.1177/07334648221135584
M3 - Article
C2 - 36283965
AN - SCOPUS:85141012374
JO - Journal of Applied Gerontology
JF - Journal of Applied Gerontology
SN - 0733-4648
ER -