基本説明
This book uses qualitative methods and multilevel statistical modeling techniques to examine individual- and community-level factors that influence the experiences and work conditions of direct care workers in assisted living.
Full Description
This volume provides an in-depth look at the people who staff assisted living facilities, the tasks they perform, and the environments in which they work. As the population of the United States ages, increasing numbers of frail older persons are choosing assisted living as a means of maintaining independence and delaying or avoiding admission to a nursing home. But assisted living workers-mostly women and minorities-are already in short supply and their numbers are shrinking. The work generally pays substandard wages. It is physically hard, dirty, and mentally and emotionally challenging. This book uses qualitative methods and multilevel statistical modeling techniques to examine individual- and community-level factors that influence the experiences and work conditions of direct care workers in assisted living. It explores how and why they selected this type of employment, shows what the job entails, highlights the importance of these workers to the people they care for daily, and gives important new information about the interrelationships among issues that affect worker satisfaction and turnover in assisted living.
In doing so, it reveals the reasons for the inherent tensions among frontline workers, facilities operators, and residents and their families and loved ones, and it offers practical strategies for attracting and retaining top-notch direct care workers. Based on a three-year study of assisted living workers, this important, original analytical snapshot of the assisted living industry provides teachable, practicable lessons for researchers, scholars, and professionals in gerontology and assisted living.
Contents
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Foundation for the Book
Part I: Frontline Workers: The Long-Term Care Context
Chapter 1. Direct Care Workers in Long-Term Care and Implications for Assisted Living
Chapter 2. Research and Regulation in Assisted Living: Achieving the Vision
Part II: Assisted Living Work and Workers
Chapter 3. Overview of Research
Chapter 4. Pathways to Caregiving
Chapter 5. "We Do It All": Universal Workers in Assisted Living
Chapter 6. Co-worker Relationships in Assisted Living: The Influence of Social Network Ties
Chapter 7. Connections with Residents: "It's All about the Residents for Me"
Chapter 8. Job Satisfaction and Racism in the Service Sector: A Study of Work in Assisted Living
Chapter 9. Staff Turnover in Assisted Living: A Multilevel Analysis
Part III: Lessons Learned
Chapter 10. Hiring and Training Workers
Chapter 11. Rewarding Workers
Conclusion: Informing Policy and Practice
Index
