Estrada Leah V, Watman Deborah, Franzosa Emily, Reckrey Jennifer M
Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC), James J. Peters Veterans Administration, Bronx, NY, USA.
J Appl Gerontol. 2025 Feb;44(2):193-198. doi: 10.1177/07334648241270070. Epub 2024 Aug 9.
Despite the potential of paid caregivers (e.g., home health aides and other home care workers) to improve their clients' health-related outcomes, paid caregivers are rarely integrated in the healthcare team. Geriatrician's perspective on paid caregivers can inform healthcare team approaches that leverage the paid caregiver role to improve older adult health. This secondary qualitative analysis ( = 9 geriatricians, = 27 interviews) used thematic analysis to identify geriatrician perceptions of when paid caregivers do the most to support the health of older adults. Geriatricians perceived that paid caregiver contributions were greatest in the care of high-needs older adults (e.g., dementia) and that paid caregivers stepped up to fill healthcare gaps when families could not provide all needed support (e.g., no family). Future work should consider how to best integrate paid caregivers who are already providing health-related support into the care team and explore barriers to paid caregiver participation in health-related care more generally.
尽管付费护理人员（如家庭健康助理和其他家庭护理工作者）有潜力改善其客户的健康相关结果，但付费护理人员很少被纳入医疗团队。老年病医生对付费护理人员的看法可以为医疗团队利用付费护理人员角色改善老年人健康的方法提供参考。这项二次定性分析（9名老年病医生，27次访谈）采用主题分析来确定老年病医生对付费护理人员何时对支持老年人健康作用最大的看法。老年病医生认为，付费护理人员在照顾高需求老年人（如痴呆症患者）方面贡献最大，并且当家庭无法提供所有所需支持（如没有家人）时，付费护理人员会挺身而出填补医疗缺口。未来的工作应考虑如何最好地将已经提供健康相关支持的付费护理人员纳入护理团队，并更广泛地探讨付费护理人员参与健康相关护理的障碍。
