Personal Support Work and Home Care in Ontario during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract

Governments introduced emergency measures to address the shortage of homecare workers and unmet care needs in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims to describe how policies impacted home care and identifies the potential risks for clientele and staff. Experts in home care (n = 15) were interviewed about policies that affect health and safety for homecare recipients. New recruitment strategies, condensed education and rapid hiring during the pandemic did not lead to the recruitment of sufficient workers, but increased the potential for recruitment of unsuitable workers or workers with little training. It is important to consider the unintended effects of emergency policy measures and to manage the effects of such policies on homecare clients.