Half of Home Care Workers Have Seen, Experienced Workplace Violence, Report Finds

McKnight’s Home Care / By Adam Healy
 
The majority of home care workers have had a brush with workplace violence or harassment, so addressing these dangers can yield significant positive impacts for providers and their staff. That’s according to a new report on home care workplace safety by Transcend Strategy Group.

More than 50% of home-based care workers have witnessed or experienced at least one incident of workplace violence or harassment, the report found. About 1 in 5 reported having seen at least seven instances of violence or harassment while on the job. Certified nursing assistants, registered nurses and physician assistants were the most likely groups to be subject to workplace dangers.

Home care providers are tackling these issues by leveraging new technologies and safety protocols to protect their workers. The report noted that tools like wearable safety devices or mobile phone applications can help boost on-the-job safety, while de-escalation training and other organizational protocols can also enhance employees’ well-being at work. In a webinar last year, experts from the National Association for Home Care & Hospice recommended that providers use in-home assessments to identify potential safety concerns before initiating care.

Still, about one-third of the surveyed workers said that they do not feel as if their employer prioritizes their safety. However, 48% indicated that they could leave an unsafe work environment without fear of retaliation from their employer.

Transcend solicited feedback from 400 individuals who worked in home-based care. The largest share were home care aides, followed by registered nurses and certified nursing assistants. Most had between one and 10 years of experience.

Some states have addressed home care safety in recent months. Notably, Connecticut passed a law in May that required home care agencies to run background checks on all clients and any other individuals living in clients’ homes. The bill was proposed in reaction to the death of Joyce Grayson, a visiting nurse who was allegedly killed by one of her clients.

Policymakers Should Help Address the Crisis of Older Adult Falls

Forbes / By Richard Howells

Older adult falls result in 38,000 deaths, 1 million hospitalizations, and 3 million emergency department visits each year, along with $80 billion in health care costs, including $53 billion to Medicare.
 
Too many Americans have lost loved ones due to falls. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that falls among older adults result in 38,000 deaths, 1 million hospitalizations, and 3 million emergency department visits each year, along with $80 billion in health care costs, including $53 billion to Medicare. Yet, most falls are preventable, and most occur at home. We can—and must—do more to help older adults avoid fatalities and injuries like fractures and traumatic brain injury from falls.
 
Given the enormous health and economic toll, one might think policymakers would make this issue a priority. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case. Despite the occasional Congressional champion, introduction of legislation, or agency activity on falls prevention, the attention given to this issue does not match its urgency. For example, falls prevention has not been a significant focus this year in Congress’ appropriations process or in the committees tasked with improving health or reducing health care costs.
 
Falls usually occur due to one or a combination of three reasons: home hazards, such as a lack of bathroom grab bars, loose rugs, stairs, poor lighting, or out-of-reach electrical outlets; medication side effects or medical conditions, such as visual or cognitive impairment; and, a lack of balance caused by a variety of illnesses, disabilities, or physical inactivity.
 
In previous testimony to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, I called for the executive branch to develop a falls prevention action plan and to better coordinate home modification programs to substantially reduce falls and their associated health care costs. Here are three specific steps that should be taken:
 
First, policymakers should make more community-based falls prevention programs accessible to seniors. This includes creating pathways for Medicare beneficiaries with traditional fee-for-service to access these programs, as well as providing incentives for Medicare Advantage plans. Programs such as A Matter of Balance, the Otago Exercise Program, and tai chi exercise programs have been recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to prevent falls in community-dwelling adults 65 years or older who are at increased risk.
 
Second, policymakers should pay clinicians specifically to screen for falls risk, intervene to reduce risk factors, and refer patients to additional falls prevention programs and specialists. The CDC’s Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries (STEADI) tool offers clinicians an evidence-based algorithm to help patients reduce fall risk. Currently, Medicare pays clinicians to assess for falls risk as part of the Annual Wellness Visit. 
 
However, falls prevention is just one of several dozen components of the visit, and there often is not enough time to focus on it. Moreover, only a minority of seniors receive the wellness visit.
 
Third, government agencies should identify and streamline the various home modification resources available across federal agencies to help older adults make their homes more age-friendly. This should include facilitating opportunities for our most vulnerable seniors enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. The aging and disability networks, such as Area Agencies on Aging and Aging and Disability Resource Centers, reach millions of older adults and could be effectively utilized to disseminate these resources.

Brain Scans Reveal That Mindfulness Meditation for Pain is Not a Placebo

MedicalXpress / By University of California – San Diego

Pain is a complex, multifaceted experience shaped by various factors beyond physical sensation, such as a person's mindset and their expectations of pain. The placebo effect, the tendency for a person's symptoms to improve in response to inactive treatment, is a well-known example of how expectations can significantly alter a person's experience. Mindfulness meditation, which has been used for pain management in various cultures for centuries, has long been thought to work by activating the placebo response. However, scientists have now shown that this is not the case.

A new study, published in Biological Psychiatry, has revealed that mindfulness meditation engages distinct brain mechanisms to reduce pain compared to those of the placebo response. The study, conducted by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, used advanced brain imaging techniques to compare the pain-reducing effects of mindfulness meditation, a placebo cream and a "sham" mindfulness meditation in healthy participants.

The study found that mindfulness meditation produced significant reductions in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings, and also reduced brain activity patterns associated with pain and negative emotions. In contrast, the placebo cream only reduced the brain activity pattern associated with the placebo effect, without affecting the person's underlying experience of pain.

"The mind is extremely powerful, and we're still working to understand how it can be harnessed for pain management," said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and Endowed Professor in Empathy and Compassion Research at UC San Diego Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. "By separating pain from the self and relinquishing evaluative judgment, mindfulness meditation is able to directly modify how we experience pain in a way that uses no drugs, costs nothing and can be practiced anywhere."…

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Introducing the National Alliance for Care at Home!

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) have reached important milestones in the process of integrating into one organization. As members, you are the first to learn about the name, logo, and initial website for our new, combined organization: National Alliance for Care at Home.

New Name and Logo

The Alliance logo is an homage to the past and a symbol of the future, weaving together visual representations symbolizing both NAHC and NHPCO. The sections of the Alliance logo are stylized people, standing together in a circle, and holding hands. The negative space between them can be seen as an icon for house or home. Altogether, the logo represents providers across the continuum coming together to support a better future for care in the home.

New Website and Communities

The interim website for the Alliance is available now: AllianceForCareAtHome.org.

This new website serves as a single sign-on hub for members, enabling you to access the resources of both legacy organizations with one unified log-in. If you have any questions or need assistance with this process, contact [email protected].

The Alliance is working on a new website to launch in 2025, which will be housed at the same URL.

The NAHC Communities will have a new look, but as a legacy NAHC member, your experience should not change. You will notice legacy NHPCO members will share the same communities section as you do, which should increase your access to informed discussion from other industry professionals, with a combined set of 29 online communities to enable the exchange of professional ideas and best practices.

We are stronger, together.

Today’s announcements come on the heels of the announcement that Steve Landers, MD, MPH, will be the first CEO of the Alliance.

See https://allianceforcareathome.org/