A home health aide in training
A new study by Pennsylvania State University researchers found that home health aides who had training are less likely to be injured on the job, and aides who felt they did not have good support from their supervisors were also more likely to suffer injuries.
The researchers also concluded that home health aides who had not experienced on-the-job injuries had a higher rate of job satisfaction and lower turnover “intentions.”
Benefits of Training
The study found that how employees felt about their workplace and training affected the probability of injuries. Employees who felt that their training had not prepared them well enough for the job were three times more likely to be injured than employees who thought that their training prepared them well.
The aides who felt their training prepared them well, not only had lower workplace injury rates, but they were also more likely to rate their organization highly as a place to work and seek services from.
“What this suggests is that investing finances into soft resources can have tangible benefits to organizations,” Deirdre McCaughey, assistant professor of health policy and administration at Penn State and lead author on the study, said in a press release about the study.
“Organizations tend to cut back on spending on soft resources, especially during hard economic times, because there is usually no tangible benefit,” she continued.
Good Supervisor Support
How home health aides perceived the support they got from their supervisors also affected on-the-job injuries, reported the study’s authors. The aides who felt they had poor supervisor support were one-and-a-half times more likely to have one injury, and three times as more likely to have three injuries, than the aides who considered their supervisors to be supportive.
“The study confirms what PHI has found it its own work over 20 years — that well designed adult-learner centered training and good supervisory supports improve retention and job satisfaction,” said PHI National Director of Curriculum and Workforce Development Peggy Powell.
The Penn State researchers analyzed data from the nationally representative 2007 National Home Health Aide Survey, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The research findings were reported at the 2010 Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting on August 9.
“Who Needs Caring? We Do! Workplace Injury and Its Effect on Home Health Aides,” was selected as a “Best Paper” for the AOM’s Annual Meeting Proceedings. The conference proceeding article can be purchased for $20 by contacting the AOM Communications and Publishing Coordinator at mdavis@pace.edu.
Visit PHI’s Training and Organizational Development Services website for more information, including PHI Coaching SupervisionSM (pdf).
– by Deane Beebe
