Innovative Approaches to Enhancing Home Care Quality Through Cooperatives

Recent research from the University of California, Los Angeles, has shed light on how home care cooperatives—worker-owned and managed agencies—can significantly improve the quality of in-home healthcare services. These cooperatives are distinguished from traditional agencies by their ownership structure, which involves home care workers actively participating in decision-making and management. The study identified four key drivers that foster better care: integrating worker feedback into care planning, increasing motivation through ownership, selectively hiring top-performing staff, and providing comprehensive, hands-on training.

Dr. Geoffrey Gusoff, lead author and assistant professor of family medicine at UCLA, emphasizes that these practices are not only practical but also testable interventions capable of transforming the home care sector. The findings highlight the importance of empowering workers as stakeholders to elevate the quality of care received by millions of elderly and disabled individuals relying on home care services.

Traditional home care delivery models often face challenges like high staff turnover, limited training, and communication barriers. The cooperative model proposes a promising alternative that promotes a collaborative environment, fostering ownership among workers, which correlates with improved care outcomes.

The study was based on 32 interviews with home care workers and staff across five cooperatives. Despite limitations such as the absence of input from care recipients and non-English speakers, the research offers valuable insights into factors that can enhance care quality. Future steps involve quantitative analyses to assess how these drivers impact safety, patient experience, and health outcomes.

Overall, expanding the home care cooperative model, along with adopting cooperative practices more broadly, could lead to substantial improvements in home healthcare quality—benefiting both care recipients and the healthcare system at large.