Workers’ Experiences of Crises in the Delivery of Home Support Services to Older Clients

Abstract

In the provision of care to older clients, home support workers regularly confront, avert, and manage crises. Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore the nature, type, and management of crises from the perspective of home support workers (N = 118) of older persons in British Columbia, Canada. The delivery of home health care occurs within a context of unpredictability related to scheduling, time constraints, variability of client need, and changing work environments. These events are experienced by 91% of home support workers and range from a serious medical incident (e.g., fall, death) to an interpersonal dilemma (e.g., client refusal of service, argument between worker and family member). Home support workers use a variety of strategies to manage these incidents. The analysis of crises enables us to better understand how agency and care policies may be more responsive to circumstances that challenge care work in home health settings.