Job Satisfaction of Home Health Aides: Profit Status and Management Models of Agencies

• In Event: 082 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 24. Medical/Health II

Abstract

Home health care aides are those workers who provide care and assistance with the activities of daily living to the elderly and/or disabled in their homes. They are employed by home health and/or hospice agencies, which vary in their profit status and management. Home health care aides represent the fastest growing jobs in the country due to aging demographics in the U.S., and are low-paid, earning an average of $20,000 per year. This study investigates the role of agency’s profit status (whether an agency is for-profit) and management (whether an agency is a chain) in predicting home health aides’ job satisfaction. It links to an ongoing debate on non-profit versus for-profit organizations in the health care sector. It also builds on previous existing research on home health care workers, which has focused on factors such as aide’s race and workload, which predict home health aides’ risk of workplace injury, and their job satisfaction and retention rates. The data for the analysis presented here are drawn from responses to the National Home Health Aide Survey, conducted in 2007, the first nationally representative survey of home health and hospice workers (n=3377). Industry studies indicate that the home health care industry is consolidating and witnessing the growth of national for-profit chains. This study investigates the potential outcomes of such industry shifts for workers. Results indicate higher job satisfaction among home health aides who are employed in non-profit settings.

Author

• Tina Wu, University of Pennsylvania