Personal Support Worker Socio-Demographic Differences Across Care Sectors in Canada

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Human Resources
• Gerontology
• Labor Economics

Background:

• Personal Support Workers (PSWs) are increasingly vital in elder care across hospital, long-term care, and home/community sectors.
• Understanding the PSW labor market is essential for healthcare human resource planning to meet the needs of an aging population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the socio-demographic characteristics of PSWs across different care sectors in Canada.
• To identify sector-specific differences among PSWs that may influence labor supply and retention.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a longitudinal, cross-provincial, individual-level dataset of PSWs in Canada (1996-2010).
• Employed descriptive statistics (means, proportions) and multivariate tests of significance to compare PSWs across sectors.
• Examined factors including sex, health, family, and education characteristics.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in socio-demographic characteristics of PSWs across care sectors.
• Home and Community (HC) PSWs were found to be older, with lower health status and higher disability levels compared to other sectors.
• Evidence of heterogeneity across sectors suggests differential impacts on PSW labor supply behaviors.

Conclusions:

• The distinct characteristics of PSWs in different sectors necessitate tailored recruitment and retention strategies.
• Recognizing sector heterogeneity is critical for effective healthcare human resource capacity building for elder care.
• Policy development should consider the unique attributes and challenges of PSWs in the Home and Community sector.