Enhancing Home Care Staff Safety Through Reducing Client Aggression and Violence in Noninstitutional Care Settings

Abstract

The problematic occurrence of client violence and patient aggression toward health care workers is pervasive, with studies and reports finding that home health care workers experience one of the highest rates of client violence than any other career field. With the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, traditional health care delivery in institutional care settings is increasingly shifted to service delivery venues in noninstitutional care settings. During this transition, greater numbers of health care workers are providing services in patients’ private homes, increasing the potential risk to staff safety and well-being in these settings.