Reuters quotes Butler in report on retaining home health care aides
Sandra Butler, a professor of social work at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Reuters Health article, “Injuries, too few work hours prompt home health aides to quit.” Based on a national survey of home health and hospice aides, having too few work hours or injuries were associated with a desire to leave the profession while having a consistent patient assignment and health insurance were linked with an intent to stay, the article states. “The work is not suited to everyone, but many who do it really love it, but find the conditions sometimes force them to leave the jobs they love,” Butler said. “It has been shown that older workers are often less likely to leave this work, in part as they may be less dependent on full-time work and benefits (perhaps because they receive Social Security and/or Medicare) and they may feel more affinity to the people they are caring for.”