Citation

Olson R, Thompson SV, Elliot DL, Hess JA, Rhoten KL, Parker KN, Wright RR, Wipfli B, Bettencourt KM, Buckmaster A, Marino M. Am. J. Public Health 2016; 106(10): 1823-1832.

Affiliation

At the time of the study, Ryan Olson, Sharon V. Thompson, Kristy Luther Rhoten, Kelsey N. Parker, Brad Wipfli, Katrina M. Bettencourt, Annie Buckmaster, and Robert R. Wright were with the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Portland. Miguel Marino is with the Department of Family Medicine, OHSU. Diane L. Elliot is with the Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine, OHSU. Jennifer A. Hess is with the Labor Education and Research Center, University of Oregon, Eugene.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2016.303327

PMID

27552270

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of the COMmunity of Practice And Safety Support (COMPASS) Total Worker Health intervention for home care workers.

METHODS: We randomized 16 clusters of workers (n = 149) to intervention or usual-practice control conditions. The 12-month intervention was scripted and peer-led, and involved education on safety, health, and well-being; goal setting and self-monitoring; and structured social support. We collected measures at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months, which included workers' experienced community of practice (i.e., people engaged in a common activity who interact regularly for shared learning and improvement). Implementation occurred during 2013 and 2014 in Oregon.

RESULTS: In an intent-to-treat analysis, relative to control, the intervention produced significant and sustained improvements in workers' experienced community of practice. Additional significant improvements included the use of ergonomic tools or techniques for physical work, safety communication with consumer-employers, hazard correction in homes, fruit and vegetable consumption, lost work days because of injury, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and grip strength. Consumer-employers' reports of caregiver safety behaviors also significantly improved.

CONCLUSIONS: COMPASS was effective for improving home care workers' social resources and simultaneously impacted both safety and health factors. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print August 23, 2016: e1-e10. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303327).

Language: en