Working and living with home care - a workplace for one, a home for the other
(2015) 19th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association- Abstract
- As home care increases and care is moving from nursing homes and hospitals into people’s homes,
there are problem areas that need to be addressed and solved in a better way than today. Nurses and
other home care workers are exposed to serval risks when the patients’ home environment becomes
their workplace. There are also serval risks for the patients when their homes are transferred into
“small hospitals”. This paper presents the initial results from a study to identify the need for
improvements in the physical environment in home care, from the perspective of both employees and
patients, and to generate useful and attractive solutions. Interviews and observations were carried... (More) - As home care increases and care is moving from nursing homes and hospitals into people’s homes,
there are problem areas that need to be addressed and solved in a better way than today. Nurses and
other home care workers are exposed to serval risks when the patients’ home environment becomes
their workplace. There are also serval risks for the patients when their homes are transferred into
“small hospitals”. This paper presents the initial results from a study to identify the need for
improvements in the physical environment in home care, from the perspective of both employees and
patients, and to generate useful and attractive solutions. Interviews and observations were carried out,
where staff members from three different healthcare teams in one municipality in Sweden were
observed during their care giving shift in patients’ homes. The results indicate that care is often
provided in a specific place in the home. Inadequate resources for hygiene, working surfaces or
lighting result in non-ergonomic work postures, eye strain, and other risks for the practitioner and the
patient. Many situations and activities are not performed in a standardized manner but open to
individual differences. The interviews turned out to be the wrong approach for identifying the need for
improvements, while observations through shadowing proved to be more suitable.
Practitioner Summary: The amount of advanced care and technology being moved into ordinary
homes is increasing. This creates the need for a physical design of the interior of the home
environment which decreases the risks for both staff and patients, and creates a pleasant home
environment. This study identified various objects and work situations that need improvement. Many of
the homes visited lacked support for ergonomic work postures, hygienic work surfaces, adequate
lighting and appropriate places to store materials. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/7936143
- author
- Johansson, Gerd LU ; Persson, Johanna LU ; Olander, Elin LU and Erlingsdottir, Gudbjörg LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- home, ergonomics, work Environment, home care
- host publication
- [Host publication title missing]
- editor
- Lindgaard, Gitte and Moore, Dave
- pages
- 8 pages
- publisher
- International Ergonomics Association
- conference name
- 19th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association
- conference location
- Melbourne, Australia
- conference dates
- 2015-08-09 - 2015-08-14
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- caf5dc5a-c0f1-47c2-bcc6-cbae9fd6924c (old id 7936143)
- alternative location
- http://ergonomics.uq.edu.au/iea/proceedings/Index_files/papers/652.pdf
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:09:33
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:03:01
@inproceedings{caf5dc5a-c0f1-47c2-bcc6-cbae9fd6924c,
abstract = {{As home care increases and care is moving from nursing homes and hospitals into people’s homes,<br/><br>
there are problem areas that need to be addressed and solved in a better way than today. Nurses and<br/><br>
other home care workers are exposed to serval risks when the patients’ home environment becomes<br/><br>
their workplace. There are also serval risks for the patients when their homes are transferred into<br/><br>
“small hospitals”. This paper presents the initial results from a study to identify the need for<br/><br>
improvements in the physical environment in home care, from the perspective of both employees and<br/><br>
patients, and to generate useful and attractive solutions. Interviews and observations were carried out,<br/><br>
where staff members from three different healthcare teams in one municipality in Sweden were<br/><br>
observed during their care giving shift in patients’ homes. The results indicate that care is often<br/><br>
provided in a specific place in the home. Inadequate resources for hygiene, working surfaces or<br/><br>
lighting result in non-ergonomic work postures, eye strain, and other risks for the practitioner and the<br/><br>
patient. Many situations and activities are not performed in a standardized manner but open to<br/><br>
individual differences. The interviews turned out to be the wrong approach for identifying the need for<br/><br>
improvements, while observations through shadowing proved to be more suitable.<br/><br>
Practitioner Summary: The amount of advanced care and technology being moved into ordinary<br/><br>
homes is increasing. This creates the need for a physical design of the interior of the home<br/><br>
environment which decreases the risks for both staff and patients, and creates a pleasant home<br/><br>
environment. This study identified various objects and work situations that need improvement. Many of<br/><br>
the homes visited lacked support for ergonomic work postures, hygienic work surfaces, adequate<br/><br>
lighting and appropriate places to store materials.}},
author = {{Johansson, Gerd and Persson, Johanna and Olander, Elin and Erlingsdottir, Gudbjörg}},
booktitle = {{[Host publication title missing]}},
editor = {{Lindgaard, Gitte and Moore, Dave}},
keywords = {{home; ergonomics; work Environment; home care}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{International Ergonomics Association}},
title = {{Working and living with home care - a workplace for one, a home for the other}},
url = {{http://ergonomics.uq.edu.au/iea/proceedings/Index_files/papers/652.pdf}},
year = {{2015}},
}