LOHP’s Homecare Project is a community-based participatory research project conducted in partnership with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Alameda County Public Authority for In-home Supportive Services, and the Service Employees United Long Term Care Workers Union. The project goals are to develop and evaluate interventions designed to improve the safety and health of homecare workers in Alameda County.

Home care workers (HCWs) who provide housekeeping and routine personal care services to elderly, disabled, or ill individuals are one of the fastest growing health care occupational groups. It is also one of the groups with the highest occupational injury rate. In 1997, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a special report on work-related injuries to HCWs showing an injury rate which was 50% higher than that of workers employed in the private hospital sector and 70% higher than the overall rate for all private industry workers.* Roughly 85% of the 1.5 million workers providing in-home services in the state are low-skilled or unskilled; many are immigrants or people of color. Lack of awareness of risk and lack of access to training and prevention resources designed for this underserved, at-risk population of workers contribute to their high injury rate.

The LOHP homecare project is designed to give caregivers and their clients the tools they need to identify potential hazards in the home and implement needed solutions.

Project activities have included:

• Focus groups with workers and recipients of homecare (consumers) to identify common hazards and possible solutions
• Field testing of our project materials conducted by a team of homecare workers and consumers
• Development of a handbook: “Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others: Practical Tips for Homecare Workers”, in English, Spanish and Chinese. The handbook places special emphasis on promoting positive communication between caregivers and clients, in identifying solutions, and in connecting caregivers to local resources that can support their efforts to stay safe on the job
• A social marketing campaign, including posters, cards and other giveaways, developed to spread the word about the importance of promoting safe homecare
• Training workshop for homecare workers to help them use the handbook to improve their working conditions
• Formal evaluation to assess impact of project intervention

* (Injuries to Caregivers Working in Patients' Homes. [1977]. In: Issues in Labor Statistics, Summary 97-4, US Dept of Labor, BLS, Washington D.C. 20212.)