A new study published in Home Healthcare Now found more than half of home healthcare workers have been physically assaulted while working at their current agency.
University of Cincinnati researchers questioned home health workers employed by seven Ohio and Oregon-based home health agencies about their knowledge of their organizations’ policies, workplace violence procedures, and their experiences involving these incidents. The participating agencies included two small agencies with 25 to 100 employees and five mid-size agencies with 100 to 500 employees.
Overall, the study found 37% of respondents experienced either verbal or emotional abuse on a daily basis while 56.6% experienced physical violence at some point while working with their current agency. Furthermore, 20% reported experiencing monthly occurrences of physical violence. In most cases, patients were the primary perpetrators.
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The study authors said the finding that was most alarming was that despite each surveyed workers indicating they’ve experienced exposure to workplace violence at some point during their employment in the agency, no participant reported any experienced workplace violence incident to management.
“Despite existing reporting policies, none of the participants reported incidents to management, highlighting systemic barriers to reporting,” the authors wrote. “These results underscore the urgent need for stronger workplace protections, improved management response, and targeted interventions to foster a safer work environment. Future research should focus on addressing reporting barriers and enhancing WPV prevention strategies.
While 100% of surveyed workers said they were knowledgeable of reporting procedures within their agency, 40% said management did not encourage reporting and 33% said they don’t feel comfortable going to management with their workplace violence concerns.
“A possible explanation is that management has instituted policies and reporting guidelines to fulfill corporate requirements without [home health care worker] buy-in,” the authors wrote. “There also may be a concern about management retaliation or victim blaming when reporting [workplace violence]. There needs to be a culture change in organizations to encourage [home health care workers] to report [workplace violence].”
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Although workplace violence occurs in other healthcare settings, the authors say working in the home presents distinct challenges.
“Home health care is a health care specialty that presents unique occupational hazards, including the potential for [workplace violence] within the home or community of the patient,” they wrote. “Individuals who work in home health care often do so independently and may not have the same resources provided to those in the traditional hospital or clinic setting.”
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers account for 73% of all non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses.
