Purpose:
The Mailman School of Public Health has embarked on this four-year epidemiological study to determine rates and risk factors for blood/body fluid exposure as well as other health hazards in home healthcare workers. Although this is a large (over 1 million employees) workforce, information on occupational health hazards associated with home healthcare nursing is very sparse.
The purpose of this study is five-fold:
- To determine prevalence (the measure of a condition in a population at a given point in time) and incidence (the number of new occurrences of a condition or disease in a population over a period of time) of blood/body fluid exposures
- To characterize and assess risk factors for exposure incidents
- To determine the availability and use of a range of medical safety devices and supplies
- To identify barriers to safe work practices in the home healthcare setting
- To identify opportunities to reduce the risk of exposure incidents in home healthcare workers using innovative participatory action research (PAR) teams.
Both qualitative and quantitative study methodologies are being used.
This study is generously funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.