Role Conflict for Aides in a Homemaker Aide Program for Frail Elderly Persons

Abstract

To determine whether aides in a homemaker program for the frail rural elderly experienced role conflict, the views of clients, aides, and staff were examined by means of an 18-item Likert-type test which assessed the difficulty of an aide in various possible problematic situations. While consensus existed among the three groups on a few items, a significant interaction of clients, aides, staff × item indicated that, for the most part, whether or not a situation was perceived as a difficult problem depended upon who did the rating. What aides saw as a difficult problem situation for themselves often differed markedly from what the staff and clients saw. Clients and staff often differed significantly from one another. This lack of consensus suggests that a direct service worker in a program such as this one might often not only find himself in an uncomfortable situation, but even worse, such a situation will not necessarily be recognized by either the program's clients or staff.

Department(s)

Psychological Science

Comments

Frances M. Montgomery published as Frances M. Haemmerlie

Keywords and Phrases

Adult; Aged; Conflict; Home Care; Human; Human Relation; Psychological Aspect; Role Playing; Conflict (Psychology); Home Care Services; Homemaker Services; Middle Age; Professional-Patient Relations; Role; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0033-2941

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1982 Ammons Scientific Ltd, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1982

Link to Full Text

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