Perceptions of health and risk management among home care workers in Sweden

BACKGROUND Municipal home care workers provide high-quality services to an increasing proportion of elderly people living in private homes. The work environments and working conditions of these workers vary to a great extent, implying rapid priority-making among both employers and employees to ensure that the work can be performed in a safe way. OBJECTIVES This study aims to examine home care workers' perceptions of health, risks, working conditions, and risk management within their organization. METHOD The study was based on cross-sectional data collected from home care service staff in a municipality in the north of Sweden. Nursing assistants and care aides (n = 133) replied to a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and between-group differences were analysed. RESULTS Home care work was perceived to require high levels of professional skill and ingenuity, a good psychosocial work situation, but required a high physical workload. The general health, the capacity and self-efficacy of the staff in relation to work were good. Difficulty in performing risk assessments and following safety regulations due to lack of time, equipment, and information were identified. CONCLUSION There is a need to increase participation in risk assessments among the staff, improve management support, structures, and cooperation with other divisions of the social services and the medical care organizations.