Jennifer M. Reckrey (
Emma K. Tsui is an assistant professor of community health and social sciences at the City University of New York School of Public Health, in New York City.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2019 Jun;38(6):927-933. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00004.
Paid caregivers (for example, home health aides and personal care attendants) are formally tasked with helping older adults with functional impairment meet their basic needs at home. This study used thirty semistructured interviews with dyads of patients or their proxies and their paid caregivers in New York City to understand the range of health-related tasks that paid caregivers perform in the home and determine whether these tasks are taught in the New York State Department of Health's curriculum. We found that patients, proxies, and paid caregivers all reported that paid caregivers performed a wide range of health-related tasks that were often not part of their formal training. Creating clear competencies for paid caregivers that reflect the full breadth of health-related tasks they may perform in the home could help maximize the positive impact of the paid caregiver workforce on the lives of patients living at home with functional impairment.
付费护工（例如，家庭健康助手和个人护理员）的主要职责是帮助有功能障碍的老年人在家中满足其基本需求。本研究对纽约市的患者或其代理人及其付费护工进行了 30 次半结构化访谈，以了解付费护工在家中执行的一系列与健康相关的任务，并确定这些任务是否在纽约州卫生部的课程中教授。我们发现，患者、代理人和付费护工都报告称，付费护工执行了广泛的与健康相关的任务，而这些任务往往不在他们的正式培训范围内。为付费护工制定明确的能力标准，反映他们在家中可能执行的与健康相关的全部任务，有助于最大限度地发挥付费护工队伍对有功能障碍而在家中生活的患者生活的积极影响。
