Home Care Workers in Maine: Increasingly Essential Workers Face Difficult Job Conditions

Abstract

As the population in Maine ages, the need for home care workers is increasing. Turnover is high in this field and the longitudinal Home Care Retention Study (HCWRS; n = 261) reported herein examined predictors of turnover and work experiences of home care aides in Maine. Younger age, lack of health insurance and poorer mental health were among the predictors of termination for the 90 study participants who left their jobs. In telephone interviews, they spoke of low wages, inconsistent hours, unreimbursed mileage and poor communication with employers in describing why they had left their jobs. A follow-up inquiry with 31 of the HCWRS study participants who were aged 63 to 80 provides information on how the job is experienced by older workers—those most likely to stay in the field. The article concludes with current policy activity affecting home care workers in Maine.