Who Cares for Them ― Workers in the Home Care Industry

Large and growing numbers of the frail elderly and disabled depend on paid workers to assist them in daily life. Identifying critical factors that affect the work conditions and job satisfaction of the home aide work force, the authors also describe demonstration programs that document the potential for work life changes in the home care industry--changes that will improve quality of work life, reduce turnover, and contribute to greater continuity of care. Managerial strategies and the policy changes necessary to implement these innovations are thoroughly explored.

PENNY HOLLANDER FELDMAN is Lecturer in Political Science in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health. Among her recent publications areRecruiting an Elite: Admission to Harvard College (1987) and, with Alice M. Sapienza, the chapter Strategic Management of Quality of Worklife in the Home Care Industry inHuman Resource Management in the Health Care Sector: A Guide for Administrators and Professionals (Greenwood Press, 1989).

ALICE M. SAPIENZA is Assistant Professor of Management in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health. In addition to her work in home care, she has published several recent articles on the management and diffusion of biotechnology in the United States and abroad.

NANCY M. KANE is Assistant Professor of Management in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health. Her recent publications includeHome Care Crisis of the Nineties, which appeared in The Gerontologist (1989).