Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Home Health and Home Care Agency Managers, Clients, and Aides: A Cross-Sectional Survey, March to June, 2020

• Published in: Home health care management & practice Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 125 - 129
• Main Authors: Sama, Susan R., Quinn, Margaret M., Galligan, Catherine J., Karlsson, Nicole D., Gore, Rebecca J., Kriebel, David, Prentice, Julia C., Osei-Poku, Godwin, Carter, Charles N., Markkanen, Pia K., Lindberg, John E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2021
• Subjects: home health care; COVID-19 pandemic; home care; elder care; home care aides; home health aides; infection prevention
• ISSN: 1084-8223; 1552-6739
• DOI: 10.1177/1084822320980415

Home health and home care (HH&HC) agencies provide essential medical and supportive services to elders and people with disabilities, enabling them to live at home. Home-based care is an important alternative to facility-based care, especially for infection prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the HH&HC workforce is comprised of aides, who also are vulnerable to COVID-19. There are limited data on the COVID-19 experience of HH&HC agencies, clients and aides. A survey of Massachusetts HH&HC agency managers was conducted June 1 to 30, 2020 to assess the impact of COVID-19 on agencies, clients, and aides early in the pandemic and to identify needs for future pandemic planning. Of the 94 agencies with completed surveys, most (59.6%) provided services to clients with COVID-19 and 3-quarters (73.7%) employed aides who tested positive for COVID-19, were symptomatic, and/or quarantined. Most agencies (98.7%) experienced a decrease in demand for home visits, reflecting clients’ concern about infection, family members assuming care duties, and/or aides being unavailable for work. Simultaneously, managers’ workloads increased to develop more extensive infection prevention policies, procedures and workforce training and sourcing scarce personal protective equipment (PPE). The COVID-19 pandemic imposed substantial new infection prevention responsibilities on HH&HC agencies, clients, and aides. Specific HH&HC needs for future pandemic planning include complete information on the infection status of clients; ready access to affordable PPE and disinfectants; and guidance, tools, and training tailored for the industry. HH&HC should be incorporated more fully into comprehensive healthcare and public health pandemic planning.