Training requirements for home care workers : a content analysis of state laws

Author / Creator

Kelly, Christopher M. author

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Online

Summary

Our research examined the training requirements for home care workers in the United States. These workers provide personal care services to older and disabled adults, which includes assistance with...

Our research examined the training requirements for home care workers in the United States. These workers provide personal care services to older and disabled adults, which includes assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and feeding. Because these services are nonmedical, national standards for medical providers (such as hospitals and nursing homes) do not apply to home care. Standards for home care workers, such as training requirements, are consequently left to the states. To compare these requirements, we conducted a content analysis of the laws relevant to home care in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. We developed a coding scheme to identify and quantify words within the text of state laws related to requirements for the training and supervision of home care workers. In this way, we were able to determine which states have developed a separate licensure category for home care as well as the baseline requirements for home care workers in these states. The following case study describes our content analysis of state home care laws. We discuss the need for and utility of flexible qualitative methods such as content analysis. We identify methodological challenges we faced, such as the reliability and validity of text data, and how we overcame these obstacles. We also discuss the implications of our use of content analysis for comparative policy research, across different areas of public policy, and across different levels of government: local, state, national, and international.

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