Invisible Workforce Research Articles

Supporting an Invisible Workforce: The Case for the Creation of the Home Healthcare Workers Support Act.

This Article seeks to synthesize academic research on home healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how their workplace challenges were magnified. Crisis communication researchers note that a crisis provides both opportunities and threats for growth. This Article argues that many of the issues that have impacted home healthcare workers have always been present, but the pandemic allows policy makers the ability to see them clearly because the pandemic brought a spotlight to the issues that home healthcare workers face on a daily basis. Consequently, the author employed a narrative analysis of the literature concerning home healthcare workers during the pandemic to understand how the pandemic exacerbated structural issues that led to an increase in mental health difficulties for this population. By understanding how the pandemic exacerbated mental health issues, policy makers can craft solutions that can withstand the next public health crisis which will undoubtedly impact the most disenfranchised.

Vocational education and training reform in Aotearoa New Zealand

The Education and Training Act 2020 provides an opportunity to transform the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system in Aotearoa New Zealand to ensure participants are successfully prepared for participation in the current and future workforce. The authors of this paper discuss current reforms in the VET system beyond the changing of components and the assignation of requisite tasks. While change to processes and systems can have an impact on VET outcomes, the kind of change that transforms individual lives and life chances depends on the decision-making and approaches made possible only by individuals ‘at the coalface.’ Indeed, changes to training programmes and processes alone cannot give effect to improved outcomes. The authors suggest that it is educators, the often unnamed and invisible workforce that will provide the basis for transformational VET based change. The VET workforce who daily mediate training programmes and curriculum as educators, facilitators, trainers, instructors and teachers are central to the transformation of VET. Indeed, the most challenging and complex of changes within the Review of Vocational Education (RoVE) is one that is not yet accounted for or named – the VET education workforce. The authors call for a recognition of educators in VET and an acknowledgement of the centrality of their work in change. A case for planning and strategy that provides direction for the education and training workforce to build their knowledge and capability for a new VET is presented, without which the opportunity for transformational reform is at risk of being lost to componentry change.

Understanding the invisible workforce: lessons for general practice from a survey of receptionists

IntroductionThe significance of the role of receptionists during the recent shift to remote triage has been widely recognised and they will have a significant role to play in UK general practice as it continues to cope with a huge increase in demand exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To maximise their contribution, it is important the social and occupational characteristics of the modern receptionist are understood, alongside their attitudes towards the role and their perceptions of the support and training they receive .MethodsWe used convenience and cross-sectional sampling to survey the demographic characteristics of receptionists and various aspects of their role and responsibilities. This included the training received, specific tasks performed, job satisfaction, the importance of the role, and their interaction with clinical and non-clinical colleagues. We also captured data on the characteristics of their practice including the number of GPs and location.ResultsA total of 70 participants completed the survey (16 postal and 54 online responses) of whom the majority were white (97.2%), female (98.6%), and aged 40 and over (56.7%). The majority of the training focussed on customer service (72.9%), telephone (64.3%), and medical administration skills (58.6%). Just over a quarter had received training in basic triage (25.7%). A standard multiple regression model revealed that the strongest predictor of satisfaction was support from practice GPs (β = .65, p <.001) there were also significant positive correlations between satisfaction and appreciation from GPs, r(68) = .609, p < .001.ConclusionThis study has provided a much-needed update on the demographics, duties, and job satisfaction of GP receptionists. The need for diversification of the workforce to reflect the range of primary care patients warrants consideration in light of continuing variation in access along lines of gender andethnicity. Training continues to focus on administrative duties not on the clinically relevant aspects of their role such as triage.

Prevalence and risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorder among female domestic workers employed in private homes in South India: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common occupational health problem accounting for a larger number of compensation days and disability among workers. An invisible workforce of female domestic workers (FDWs) is involved in back-breaking jobs in the informal job sectors, and yet, there are no studies to quantify their work-related MSD’s (WMSDs). The objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of WMSDs among FDWs employed at private houses in Bengaluru, South India. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 408 randomly selected FDWs with a comparative group. The trained interviewer assessed WMSDs using a standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire and psychosocial distress using the general health questionnaire–12. Results: A high prevalence of WMSD was reported in the neck (19.6%), shoulder (23.8%), elbow (12%), upper back (31.9%), and ankle (26%) in domestic workers than the non-domestic workers. Age above 37 years (AOR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.03–3.06), house cleaning ([&gt;1715 h/year – AOR: 1.30, 95% CI: 0.60–2.84] [1714–555 h/year – AOR: 1.30, 95% CI:0.66–2.59]), and clothing ([Care &gt;1460 h/year – AOR: 2.44, 95% CI: 1.12–5.35] [109–1459 h/year – AOR: 1.98, 95% CI: 0.95–4.10]) were factors associated with neck pain in FDW. Moreover, work experience of more than 10 years (AOR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.32–3.34) and distress (AOR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.25–3.61) was a factor associated with lower back pain in FDW. Conclusion: FDWs are substantially affected by WMSDs in the neck and lower back due to house cleaning and clothing care tasks performed in the workplace setting, respectively.

Mentalno zdravlje neformalnih negovatelja

The aging society is facing an important public health problem related to provision of care to older and dependent people. The care provided on a daily basis includes a range of different social and health services, as well as the provision of emotional support to people who are not capable to function independently. Activities important for day by day functioning, such as bathing, dressing, feeding, shopping and health monitoring are only part of the responsibilities and obligations that the "invisible workforce", i.e. informal caregivers, must provide. Even though, regardless of the heavy price informal caregivers often pay with their economic and health status, they still remain a blind spot in public policies. An informal caregiver provides ongoing care and assistance, without receiving payment, to family members and friends who need support due to physical, cognitive or mental problems. Depression is one of the most common problems experienced by informal caregivers and it is estimated that a large number, in the range of 40% to about 70% of all informal caregivers have depression symptoms. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly left its mark on physical health, however, as the pandemic moves forward, it has began to show an ever increasing impact on the mental health of people around the world, where informal caregivers fall into a particularly vulnerable category. Particularly those informal caregivers who provide long-term help to a member of the family, became of an increased risk of emotional and physical exhaustion due to the burden of care, reduced services, as well as the relocation to consulting by telephone and the digital sphere. While some some of them managed to cope with stress and became resilient, others did not and the increasing psychological pressure led to the development of depression symptoms.

Informal Caregivers Provide Considerable Front-Line Support In Residential Care Facilities And Nursing Homes.

Informal care, or care provided by family and friends, is the most common form of care received by community-dwelling older adults with functional limitations. However, less is known about informal care provision within residential care settings including residential care facilities (for example, assisted living) and nursing homes. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2016) and the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2015), we found that informal care was common among older adults with functional limitations, whether they lived in the community, a residential care facility, or a nursing home. The hours of informal care provided were also nontrivial across all settings. This evidence suggests that informal caregiving and some of the associated burdens do not end when a person transitions from the community to residential care or a nursing home setting. It also points to the large role that families play in the care and well-being of these residents, which is especially important considering the recent visitor bans during the COVID-19 epidemic. Family members are an invisible workforce in nursing homes and residential care facilities, providing considerable front-line work for their loved ones. Providers and policy makers could improve the lives of both the residents and their caregivers by acknowledging, incorporating, and supporting this workforce.

Delivering Covid-19 research during the UK pandemic: Experiences of a local research taskforce.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, clinical research nurses had to work in new ways and under significant pressure to generate evidence for the developing health crisis. Research nurse support needs, personal and professional challenges have not been explored. This study addresses that gap, generating learning for continued support and development of the research nurse specialty and its ability to respond to public health priorities. We employed a qualitative exploratory approach through online open-ended interviews to explore research nurses' experiences of delivering research during the pandemic using principles of Grounded Theory. Fifteen research nurses in the local research taskforce were identified through purposive sampling. Qualitative interviews were conducted online between November 2020 and January 2021 and analysed using the principles of constructivist grounded theory. Three themes of adapting to uncertainty, inclusive leadership and finding validity in the stretch zone were generated in the analysis. A model of inclusive leadership and support can facilitate high-functioning performance in a research team, supporting a rapid, confident and efficient response to research needs. Research nurses, a previously invisible workforce, have proved critical to the pandemic response. This study explores the experiences of a team of redeployed research nurses and develops a theory of their experience as they were undertaking the rapid delivery of urgent public health studies during COVID-19. What was found was a process of adaptation and resilience through collaborative teamwork, a strong sense of purpose and role validation enabled by an inclusive leadership style. This work will drive future development of a model of research nursing with a focus on collaboration between research and clinical colleagues.

Women’s work in small-scale fisheries: a framework for accounting its value

Women play an important role in small-scale fisheries around the world. Their work along the entire fish value chain contributes to the productivity of the sector and enhances household income. But this work remains unrecognized and undervalued, and women continue to be excluded from decision-making in fisheries management and policy development. This study aims to construct a theoretical framework for analyzing how women’s fish processing and trade activities create value and enhance competitive advantage along the fish value chain. It asks how the value of fish is generated by women’s labor in processing and trade and how we might construct a theory of value that better accounts women’s contributions to fish economies. The framework combines the Resource-Knowledge-Based-View, which considers situated knowledge as a source for capability creation, and Feminist Commodity Chain Analysis, which describes and assesses how the activities performed by women create value within and across value chain nodes. Applying this framework to three fish economies in Mexico and India, findings emphasize that a) valuable assets emerge from women’s work in small-scale fisheries; and b) to make gender visible, it is necessary to identify how and where value and profit are created by women in each node of the fish value chain. Recognizing the value of women’s work is a key element to empower them and to make visible an invisible workforce.

How Do You Manage an Invisible Workforce?

Abstract A recent BCS LinkedIn poll revealed that mental health was at the top of managers’ list of WFH concerns. As author and troubleshooter Carole Osterweil explains, mental health is something you ignore at your peril!

The Invisible University Is COVID-19 Positive

Within the ivory tower of academia, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic stands to disproportionately impact the invisible workforce of postdoctoral researchers (postdocs). Faced with university closures, hiring freezes, and a general lack of support and benefits, an entire generation of postdocs and their knowledge and skills may be lost to academia without intervention.

The invisible workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: Family carers at the frontline

This is an open letter to acknowledge the essential and increasingly challenging role unpaid family carers are playing in the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter is written by members of the CAREWELL team, a HRB-funded project that aims to promote health and self-care behaviours among working family carers. Family carers provide care to family and friends in the community who need support due to old-age, disability and chronic illness. In many cases, family carers are supporting those who are considered most at risk in this pandemic meaning carers must reduce their own risk of infection in order to protect their dependent family members. The temporary reduction of some home care services, as well as school and creche closures, means that family carers are providing increased levels of care with little or no support. At a time when both worlds of work and care have been dramatically transformed, we wish to shed light on those who are currently balancing paid employment with a family caregiving role. We argue that there is much to be learned from the recent work restrictions that could benefit employees, including working family carers, beyond this pandemic. We also wish to build on the potential positives of a transformed society and encourage policy makers and employers to focus on what is currently being implemented, and to identify which measures could be used to create a bedrock of policies and practices that would offer robust and effective support to family carers. It is hoped that family carers will receive greater recognition for the significant role they play in society, providing essential care and alleviating the strain on health and social care systems, both during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The work-life experiences of an invisible workforce

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the work-life (WL) experiences of live-in women migrant domestic workers (MDWs), who represent a significant proportion of migrant workers globally. MDWs play a key role in enabling the work-life balance (WLB) of others, namely the middle-class households that employ them. Yet, their experiences have largely been invisible in mainstream WL literature. The authors draw on an intersectional approach to frame the WL experiences of this marginalized group of women at the intersection of being secondary labour segment workers, with significant legal and employment restrictions as migrant workers, who work and live in the same place as their employers. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 women MDWs from Indonesia and the Philippines working in Malaysia. The women talked about the meaning of work as MDWs, how they maintain familial connections whilst working abroad, and how they negotiate their WLB as live-in workers. Thematic analysis of the interviews focused on the intersection of the women’s multiple dimensions of disadvantage, including gender, class and temporary migrant-foreigner status, in shaping their accounts of the WL interface. Findings Three thematic narratives highlight that any semblance of WLB in the MDWs’ lived experience has given way to the needs of their employers and to the imperative to earn an income for their families back home. The themes are: working as MDWs enables the women and their families back home to have a life; the co-existence of WL boundary segmentation and integration in relation to “real” and “temporary” families; and the notion of WLB being centred around the women’s ability to fulfil their multiple duties as MDWs and absent mothers/sisters/daughters. Research limitations/implications The study is based on a small sample of live-in women MDWs in Malaysia, intended to promote typically excluded voices and not to provide generalizable findings. Accessing potential participants was a considerable challenge, given the vulnerable positions of women MDWs and the invisible nature of their work. Practical implications Future research should adopt a multi-stakeholder approach to studying the WL experiences of women MDWs. In particular, links with non-governmental organizations who work directly with women MDWs should be established as a way of improving future participant access. Social implications The study underscores the existence of policies and regulations that tolerate and uphold social inequalities that benefit primary labour segment workers to the detriment of secondary labour segment workers, including women MDWs. Originality/value Extant WL literature is dominated by the experiences of “the ideal work-life balancers”, who tend to be white middle-class women, engaged in professional work. This study offers original contribution by giving voice to a taken-for-granted group of women migrant workers who make other people’s WLB possible. Moreover, the study challenges WL research by underscoring the power inequities that shape the participants’ marginal and disadvantaged lived experience of work, life, family and WLB.

Family Caregiving in Serious Illness in the United States: Recommendations to Support an Invisible Workforce.

Family caregivers provide the vast majority of care for individuals with serious illness living in the community but are not often viewed as full members of the healthcare team. Family caregivers are increasingly expected to acquire a sophisticated understanding of the care recipient's condition and new skills to execute complex medical or nursing tasks, often without adequate preparation and support, and with little choice in taking on the role. This review draws on peer-reviewed literature, government reports, and other publications to summarize the challenges faced by family caregivers of older adults in the context of serious illness and to identify opportunities to better integrate them into the healthcare workforce. We discuss promising approaches such as inclusion of family caregivers in consensus-based practice guidelines; the "no wrong door" function, directing consumers to needed resources, regardless of where initial contact is made; and caregiver-friendly workplace policies allowing flexible arrangements. We present specific recommendations focusing on research, clinical practice, and policy changes that promote family-centered care and improve outcomes for caregivers as well as persons with serious illness. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:S451-S456, 2019.

An invisible workforce: the neglected role of cleaners in patient safety on maternity units

ABSTRACTHospital cleaning has been shown to impact on rates of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and good environmental hygiene is critical to quality care, yet those tasked with the role of ensuring a safe and clean environment often go unrecognised as members of the healthcare workforce. Sepsis is a leading cause of maternal and newborn death, a significant proportion of these cases are estimated to be due to HCAIs. Deliveries in health institutions have now reached 75% globally, and in low and middle income countries the corresponding increased pressure on facilities has impacted both quality of care provided and quality of the birth environment in terms of infection prevention and control (IPC) and HCAIs. The paper discusses the neglected role of health facility cleaners, providing evidence from the literature and from needs assessments conducted by The Soapbox Collaborative and partners in Bangladesh, India, The Gambia and Zanzibar. While not the primary focus of the assessments, common themes emerged consistently pointing to institutional neglect of cleaning and cleaners. The paper argues that low status within facilities, wider societal marginalisation, lack of training, and poor pay and working conditions contribute to the lack of prioritisation placed on health facility environmental hygiene. With increased international attention focused towards health facility water, sanitation and hygiene and a growing focus on IPC, now is the time to address the neglect of this frontline healthcare workforce. We propose that provision of and improved training can enable the recognition of the valuable role cleaning staff play, as well as equipping these staff with the tools required to perform their job to the highest standard. In addition to training, wider systems changes are necessary to establish improvements in environmental hygiene and the role of cleaning staff, including addressing resource availability, supportive supervision, and an increased emphasis on preventative healthcare.

Understanding the wounded soul of an invisible workforce: Needs and issues of family carers

Family caregivers have been an integral part of healthcare in India for several decades. They have been complementing the state resources, and thus, estimating the real healthcare cost becomes difficult. This paper highlights the needs of the family caregivers in an emerging change in the family structure in India – from joint families to extended families and to nuclear families. It makes a case for recognizing the efforts of the caregivers in providing healthcare, rather than just viewing them as plentiful of resources available. Their experiences and needs deserve due recognition and understanding to develop support networks and care program for the caregivers. We have made attempt in this regard to summarize the current status of research on this topic in the Indian and global context.

Services in Virtual World: Understanding Work in Delivery Service of E-Retailing

The advent of e-retailing has brought about colossal transformation in the realm of traditional retailing services. As a part of virtual services, the human component involved in this sector is hidden right from placing of an order till its delivery. These workers, once deemed as a segment of invisible workforce in academic debate, have lately caught attention with their growing resentment at workplace (Cherry, 2016). The purpose of this article is to understand the nature of work in delivery segment of e-retailing’s value chain that is emerging as a major blue collar job in several metro cities of India. This would help contextualize whether these kinds of jobs, being developed through advent of information technology in service economy, resembles post-industrial theory or supports critics of such theory. This has been carried out through analysis of work organization and workplace relationships in delivery services, against a backdrop of Braverman’s (1998) de-skilling thesis and Burawoy’s (1979) theory on ‘relations in production’.

Putting the Spotlight on Invisible Family Caregivers.

Almost every aspect of the American health care system is changing rapidly. If there is one constant in these efforts, it is the move from expensive hospital-based care to less expensive care at home and in the community. To provide care for an aging population with multiple chronic conditions in this new environment, policy makers and health care professionals recognize the need for an expanded workforce trained in geriatrics.1 To date, workforce discussions have focused almost exclusively on expanding the pool ofwell-trained professionals and paraprofessionals. This perspective fails to fully recognize the invisible workforce of unpaid and largely untrained family caregivers (including relatives, friends, and neighbors)whoprovidemostof thecareathome. Inaddition to their more familiar roles assisting with personal care and household tasks, family caregivers provide and coordinate complex chronic care. Usingdata fromthe2011NationalHealthandAgingTrends Study and the linked National Study of Caregiving,Wolff and colleagues2 in this issueof JAMAInternalMedicinehaveadded compelling evidence toother studiesdemonstrating that family caregivers are anessential butvulnerable componentof the newhealth careworkforce.3While other national family caregiver surveys look at a broad age range of the estimated 40 to 44millionAmericans caring for adultswith chronic illnesses, the National Health and Aging Trends Study findings describe family caregiving for people 65 years and older, a particularly vulnerable population estimated in this study at 14.7 million. The study by Wolff and colleagues2 focuses on help provided by family caregivers in care coordination and medication management, two of the most common and challenging tasks in chronic care. Care coordination can include accompanying the person to physician visits and asking questions about treatments and medications. It can also include communications with a range of health care professionals, payers, and community services. Medication management may includeorganizingmultipledrugs inmany forms,making sure that the person takes them appropriately, and giving injections, infusions, and other treatments, as well as reporting adverse effects. While essential, such assistance takes a toll on caregivers. In the study by Wolff and colleagues,2 family caregiverswhoprovidedsubstantialhelp (definedasassistingwith bothcarecoordinationandmedicationmanagement)weresignificantlymore likely thanothers tobecaring for apersonwith dementia aloneordementia in conjunctionwitha severe functional disability. These caregivers were also more likely to be older, less likely to report their ownhealth as excellent or very good, and more likely to experience emotional and physical problems. Caregiving negatively affected their employment and their ability to participate in valued activities, supplementing evidence about the financial burden on families caring for people with dementia in the last 5 years of life.

The Caring Majority: Building a Coalition Around Domestic Workers' Rights

The Caring Majority: Building a Coalition Around Domestic Workers' Rights

Traumatic Stories of Humiliation and Ill-Treatment in African American Biographies.

The evolution of the racial supremacy of whites against African Americans in US history has spanned over four hundred years. It has been documented in the lives of the innumerable people who participated in the class struggle against whites. The aspect of colour of skin, fragmented the societal norms and culture, had started off when US encouraged the import of Black slaves. This led to the formation of an invisible workforce supporting the nation. Brutality in the form of racial hatred has evolved to the finer nuances of abuse and harassment at every sphere of life in US against African Americans over the years, against men and women across the ages. Incidents of torture, rape, plunder and looting, denial of economic sustenance in the ‘land of free’ was a sort of mockery. This study will try to throw light on the different perspectives of the impact on African American society, their lives and a profession that has made their lives much different as espoused by the human rights commission. This opens up the debate of group abuse and ill treatment or the wider agenda of a personalized hatred as a result of ego gratification. Different perspectives of ill treatment, torture and humiliation which are hugely race specific was reported earlier. Many forms of these were not reported in the press but documented in biographies which illuminates our knowledge on what used to happen. Biographies reported both the racial discrimination and personal experience pertaining to the issue, that are evidences of how these pactices were executed. Legal help in judiciary was formulated as a fallout of relentless revolution against the white to help the African American community. The result led to modifications in the approach of hatred towards African Americans, in a more subtle form. Harassment in different forms evolved to match up the previous records of psychological humiliation inflicted on African Americans under the disguise of civilised societal norms. As the world has evolved through the ages, so has the societal norms and laws to exercise control, but the treatments African Americans underwent was different from what it used to be earlier. The history through biographies tells us now what to expect from an African American and white fallout, so with the legal aspect controlling the outcome, freedom of speech, actions of African Americans is still considered as a cherished dream. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p323

Against All Odds: Civic Engagement and Power Building in an Invisible Workforce

Home care workers provide assistance with activities of daily living to disabled, chronically ill, cognitively impaired and elderly clients. Home care jobs involve personal, intimate forms of caregiving such as help with bathing, dressing, eating and performing household tasks. Such ‘high-intensity’ caregiving places continual demands on home care workers’ time and energy. Despite the challenging physical and emotional work that caring for the elderly and disabled entails, home care services are undervalued and wages for home care workers are at the lowest end of the wage scale in the health care sector. Public policies created and continue to fund the home care industry. Wages and working conditions are shaped by government established reimbursement rates. The plight of home care providers is exacerbated by legal limitations to collective bargaining and the workers’ exclusion from most labor standards. Until very recently, labor unions have overlooked this sector of the workforce. This paper examines how home care workers in Oregon, a predominantly female, geographically dispersed, and economically under-valued workforce were brought together to experience the power of direct political action, shape public policy, and extend their reach beyond the union to other civic and social groups. Drawing on qualitative interviews and archival data, it traces the efforts of home care workers to mobilize their co-workers to demand improvements in compensation and working conditions and to become trade union activists. The paper concludes with a discussion of the factors that helped the home care workers to be successful in bringing about social change that improved their lives.