TY - JOUR
T1 - Having a Say Matters
T2 - The Association Between Home Health Aides’ Voice and Job Satisfaction
AU - Bensson-Ravunniarath, Mara
AU - Ringel, Joanna Bryan
AU - Avgar, Ariel
AU - Wiggins, Faith
AU - Lee, Ann
AU - McDonald, Margaret V.
AU - Guerrero, Lourdes R.
AU - Kallas, John
AU - Gusoff, Geoffrey
AU - Shen, Megan
AU - Tseng, Emily
AU - Dell, Nicola
AU - Czaja, Sara
AU - Lindquist, Lee A.
AU - Sterling, Madeline R.
N1 - National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Grant K23HL150160 (PI: Sterling). Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Center For Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UL1TR002384 and by the National Science Foundation under Award Number 2026577. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Purpose: Despite a rapidly growing need for home health aides (HHAs), turnover rates are high. While this is driven in large part by the demanding nature of their work and low wages, another factor may be that HHAs are often not considered part of the medical team which can leave them feeling unheard by other healthcare professionals. We sought to determine whether this concept, or HHAs’ perceived voice, was associated with job satisfaction. Methods and Design: This cross-sectional survey of English-and Spanish-speaking HHAs caring for adults with heart failure (HF) was conducted from June 2020 to July 2021 in New York, NY in partnership with a labor management fund of a large healthcare union that provides benefits and training to HHAs. Voice was assessed with a validated 5-item scale (total score range 5 to 25). Job Satisfaction was assessed with the 5-item Work Domain Satisfaction Scale (total score range 5 to 35). Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between voice and job satisfaction. Results: A total of 413 HHAs employed by 56 unique home care agencies completed the survey; they had a mean age of 48 years, 97.6% were female, 60.2% were Hispanic, and they worked as HHAs for a median of 10 years (IQR, 5, 17). They had a median Voice score of 18 (IQR 15–20) and mean job satisfaction score of 26.4 (SD 5.6). Higher levels of voice (1.75 [0.46–3.04]) were associated with greater job satisfaction (p=0.008). When adjusting for Race/Ethnicity, HF training, and HF knowledge, the association between Voice and job satisfaction remained significant ((1.77 [0.40–3.13]) Conclusion: HHAs with a voice in the care of their patients experienced greater job satisfaction. Voice may be an important target for interventions aiming to improve HHAs’ retention in the field.
AB - Purpose: Despite a rapidly growing need for home health aides (HHAs), turnover rates are high. While this is driven in large part by the demanding nature of their work and low wages, another factor may be that HHAs are often not considered part of the medical team which can leave them feeling unheard by other healthcare professionals. We sought to determine whether this concept, or HHAs’ perceived voice, was associated with job satisfaction. Methods and Design: This cross-sectional survey of English-and Spanish-speaking HHAs caring for adults with heart failure (HF) was conducted from June 2020 to July 2021 in New York, NY in partnership with a labor management fund of a large healthcare union that provides benefits and training to HHAs. Voice was assessed with a validated 5-item scale (total score range 5 to 25). Job Satisfaction was assessed with the 5-item Work Domain Satisfaction Scale (total score range 5 to 35). Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between voice and job satisfaction. Results: A total of 413 HHAs employed by 56 unique home care agencies completed the survey; they had a mean age of 48 years, 97.6% were female, 60.2% were Hispanic, and they worked as HHAs for a median of 10 years (IQR, 5, 17). They had a median Voice score of 18 (IQR 15–20) and mean job satisfaction score of 26.4 (SD 5.6). Higher levels of voice (1.75 [0.46–3.04]) were associated with greater job satisfaction (p=0.008). When adjusting for Race/Ethnicity, HF training, and HF knowledge, the association between Voice and job satisfaction remained significant ((1.77 [0.40–3.13]) Conclusion: HHAs with a voice in the care of their patients experienced greater job satisfaction. Voice may be an important target for interventions aiming to improve HHAs’ retention in the field.
KW - communication
KW - healthcare team
KW - home health aide
KW - long-term care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171670796&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85171670796&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2147/RMHP.S420207
DO - 10.2147/RMHP.S420207
M3 - Article
C2 - 37705993
AN - SCOPUS:85171670796
SN - 1179-1594
VL - 16
SP - 1791
EP - 1800
JO - Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
JF - Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
ER -