Why Do They Leave? Factors Associated With Job Termination Among Personal Assistant Workers in Home Care

Abstract

Recruiting and retaining an adequate number of personal support workers in home care is both challenging and essential to allowing elders to age in place. A mixed-method, longitudinal study examined turnover in a sample of 261 personal support workers in Maine; 70 workers (26.8%) left their employment in the first year of the study. Logistic regression analysis indicated that younger age and lack of health insurance were significant predictors of turnover. Analysis of telephone interviews revealed three overarching themes related to termination: job not worthwhile, personal reasons, and burnout. Implications of study findings for gerontological social workers are outlined.

The Home Care Worker Retention Study: A Longitudinal, Mixed-Methods Inquiry

“…Nonetheless "leavers" were significantly less likely to have health insurance than "stayers" (37.5% vs. 23.1%, p< .05), and previous analyses of the sample data have indicated this to be one factor contributing to job termination [6,12]. A 52-yearold "stayer" whose family had health insurance through her husband's employment discussed the health insurance situation at the home care agency where she had been working for six years.…”

“…Previously published analyses of the HCWRS survey data utilized multivariate statistical methods to determine factors predicting termination [6,12] and increased job tenure [14]. For this article descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis including chi-square analysis and t-tests were utilized to determine differences between groups.…”

“…When more than one reader was involved, inter-rater reliability was calculated through percent agreement between readers' coding [20]. When agreement fell below 80%, differences were negotiated [6,11,12,14,19].…”

“…The Home Care Worker Retention Study (HCWRS) described herein sought to gain a better understanding of how issues of hours, benefits and wages impact job experiences both for workers who choose to leave their home care jobs and for those who remain employed. Earlier analyses from the study have shown that compensation issues are of concern not only to workers who terminated employment [6,12] but also to those who remain on the job [19], although, perhaps to a lesser degree [14]. This article explores compensation issues more directly and seeks to address the following research questions:…”

“…These factors impact home care aides' ability to stay in this line of work [6,7,8]. Job turnover, which has been estimated to range from 44% to 65% annually [9], can result in compromised care for older adults and increased direct cost to agencies.…”