What Do Organizations and Clinicians of Status Owe Their Patients' Home Health Aides?

AMA J Ethics. 2022 Sep 1;24(9):E822-829. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2022.822.

Abstract

This commentary on a case offers a historical perspective on how home health work became separate from other sites and means of professional caregiving, exacerbating poor continuity of care in the US health care system. Categorizing home health work as domestic work continues to racialize and marginalize workers. Poor public policy responding to market pressures to keep home health work cheap also perpetuates home health workers' classification as independent contractors, their lack of training, and low wages. This commentary suggests an alternative model for the future of home health work in the United States.

MeSH terms

  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Health Personnel
  • Health Workforce
  • Home Care Services*
  • Home Health Aides*
  • Humans
  • Organizations
  • United States