“The client looks forward to this. This makes their life a little more easy. Not easy just physically, but mentally and spiritually also,” says Chicago home care worker Muriel Jones in an online slide show of a typical day in her work life. “You being there kind of uplifts them, because they know somebody is coming every day or every other day, paying them attention.”

The beautiful pictures of Jones at work, which were taken by photojournalist Earl Dotter, are accompanied by a voiceover in which she talks about what she does and what it means to her clients.

Jones also talks about the dangers and difficulties of the job, since the project was funded by the National Institutes for Occupational Safety. (It was executed by investigators at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, with participation from SEIU Locals 880 and 150). The intent of the slide show is to increase understanding about how home care workers are exposed to bloodborne pathogens and how to protect them.

The show accomplishes its primary goal, but it doesn’t stop there. It’s not often we get an extended look into the largely invisible world of home care, let alone a guided tour from a home care professional.

So check out Muriel’s Day - and pass on the link, if you know someone else who might learn something from it or want to use it. By describing Jones’ work clearly and compassionately, Muriel’s Day offers the rest of us a resource that can help us do our own.

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org