| Abstract |
The growing number of Home Health Aides and Personal Care Aides is expected to exceed 4.1 million by 2026. Increases in home healthcare services and workers are attributed to the aging population, increased outpatient care, decreased hospital lengths of stay, cost savings, and patient preferences. Home environments are more challenging and variable than other healthcare work environments. In 2015 the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported incidence rates for home health aides and personal care assistants, at 117.9 and 132, respectively, exceeded the average rate of 93.9 cases per 10,000 workers for private industry as a whole. 60% of home health aide injuries have been reported to occur inside patient homes and are associated with patient handling tasks, medical devices, equipment, and other environmental factors. Given the increase in healthcare provided in homes, and hazards faced by home healthcare workers (HHWs), it is critical that these workers receive appropriate occupational safety and health training to be able to identify, assess, and respond to hazards in client's homes. This project addressed this training need by developing and assessing the efficacy of an appealing, interactive, widely-distributable, virtual simulation training system (VSTS). Using a rigorous, interdisciplinary, participatory, and iterative design process and mixed methods research approach, a VSTS was created that includes a tutorial, orientation, three training modules (Electrical/Fire/Burn, Slip/Trip/Lift, and Environmental hazards) and Assessment module that trains and assesses ability of HHWs to identify and respond to occupational health and safety hazards in client homes. |
